When Monkeypox Pandemic. The current monkeypox outbreak is highly unusual because it is spreading widely in north american and european nations where the virus is not . And unless we declare an . Cdc is tracking an outbreak of monkeypox that has spread across several countries that don't normally report monkeypox, including the united . The virus was discovered in 1958 in research monkeys, but its natural hosts are likely rodents and other small mammals.