LAUSR

Monkeypox virus (MPXV), a double-stranded DNA virus from the genusOrthopoxvirus, causes a re-emerging zoonotic disease named monkeypox (MPX).1 The first human MPX case was detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1970.2 Furthermore, this zoonotic infection has spread and become endemic to Africa (especially Central and West). The first MPXV-infected cases were formally reported in 2003 in the United States of America; furthermore, recent MPXV-infected cases have been diagnosed in nonendemic countries until 2022.2,3 Various animal species such as rope squirrels, tree squirrels, elephant shrews, dormice, Gambian pouched rats, nonhuman primates, etc., can be infected by MPXV. However, the primary reservoirs of MPXV remain ambiguous.2 The MPXV transmission to humans occurs when direct or indirect contact with infected humans, suspected animals, and contaminated materials takes place.3 Centrifugal distribution of skin lesions (a rash that advances from popular, macular, pustular, vesicular, and lesions to crusts) and gastrointestinal and respiratory signs are expected in MPX-infected cases. Furthermore, septicemia, bronchopneumonia, encephalitis, and ocular lesions have been reported in severe cases.2 The smallpox vaccination with the vaccinia virus had cross-protection (nearly 85%) against MPX.4 The limited vaccination programs against smallpox and other Orthopoxvirus are carried out in selected groups such as military populations and high-containment laboratory staff; however, large-scale vaccination programs against anyOrthopoxvirus in the general population were no longer indicated after smallpox eradication in 1980.5 Infodemiology, especially search interest analysis and Web mining, has become attractive research topics since 2020, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.6,7 Most of the Internet users choose Google as a search engine.7–9 Therefore, Google Trends (GT) was launched for visualizes and analyze the search interest of queries in various languages and regions. Moreover, search interest is demonstrated by the Relative Search Volume (RSV) index with the 0 (absence of popularity) to 100 (highest popularity) range in GT based on all searches of everything performed during the selected period.7–10 The benefits of search trend analysis in medical research are surveillance and prediction of disease outbreaks.8,9 This analysis aims to emphasize confirmed and suspected cases of MPX based on the WHO report and its reflection on people’s search trends from May 13 to May 21, 2022, in nonendemic countries.