Mpox (monkeypox) is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. Most people fully recover, but some get very sick.

Anyone can get mpox. It spreads from contact with infected:

• persons, through touch, kissing, or sex
• animals, when hunting, skinning, or cooking them
• materials, such as contaminated sheets, clothes or needles 
• pregnant persons, who may pass the virus on to their unborn baby. 

If you have mpox:

The disease presents in three stages, the first and second of which can be treated. The third stage can involve changes to the bones in many parts of the body.

• Primary Yaws (1-3 months from infection) is characterized by ulcers and papillomas.

• In the secondary stage (3 months to 2 years of infection), symptoms include bone swelling and plantar keratosis.
• Tertiary Yaws (up to 10 years after infection) is marked by cartilage destruction and bone malformations.