Figure Legends
Figure 1. (A) Timeline of development related to the Mpox (MPX) outbreaks. hMPX: human Mpox, the DRC: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the USA: the United States of America, the UK: the United Kingdom, WHO: the World Health Organization, PHEIC: Public Health Emergency of International Concern. (B) World distribution map of laboratory-confirmed cases of MPX. (C) Daily confirmed cases of MPX. (Data from WHO from January 1, 2022, to February 25, 2023)
Figure 2. Structure of Mpox virus (MPXV). MPXV has two morphological structures, the mature virus (MV) and the extracellular enveloped virus (EV). the outside of the MV is a lipid membrane and the MV wrapped by another lipid membrane is the EV morphological structure. Inside the membrane are a lateral body and a dumbbell-shaped internal core containing MPXV double-stranded DNA and some other proteins.
Figure 3. Genomic structure of Mpox virus (MPXV). The genome of MPXV is approximately 197 kb and consists of two variable regions and a large conserved central genomic region. The central genomic region (from C10L to A25R) consists of 101,476 bp. The terminal inverted repeat (ITR) located in the two variable regions is 6,379 bp, and the region consists of some ORFs, an 80 bp hairpin loop, 45 bp short tandem repeats, NR1 (85 bp) and NR2 (322 bp) regions, and the coding region.
Figure 4. Replication cycle of Mpox virus (MPXV) and mechanism of action of some anti-poxvirus drugs. Tecovirimat prevents the formation of cell-associated enveloped virus (CEV) and extracellular enveloped virus (EEV), while cidofovir and brincidofovir inhibit viral DNA polymerase
Figure 5. Mpox (MPV) transmission. MPV can be transmitted in many ways. Animal-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with the body fluids of animals infected with the MPXV (e.g., monkeys, squirrels, etc.) or lesions of infected animals, scratching or biting of animals, and consumption of meat from infected animals, while human-to-human transmission can occur through sexual contact and contact with contaminated objects, respiratory secretions of these infected individuals, skin lesions, and their bedding and clothing.