When we shared viruses the other day in class, we ran out of time before I had the chance to tell you all about the monkeypox virus. Made of double-stranded DNA, it is of the poxviridae family, putting it in the same family as cowpox and smallpox. This virus can affect animals, such as monkeys and prairie dogs, as well as humans. It can be transmitted through a bite or fluid contact, and its incubation period is ten to fourteen days long. It undergoes a lytic cycle for replication. While there have been very few cases of monkeypox in the US, it is something to watch out for while traveling in Africa.