Illustration of a pox virus particle. The outer coat is transparent, allowing the dumbbell-shaped core to be seen. Pox viruses include smallpox and monkeypox, which cause similar symptoms, although monkeypox is a milder disease. Symptoms include fever and a rash, which turns into thousands of small blisters filled with virus-containing fluid. Smallpox was a lethal disease that was eradicated in 1980. Monkeypox is endemic to Central and West Africa, although outbreaks have occurred around the world, including the 2022 outbreak in the UK, Europe and the Americas.