Public health experts are pointing to the past epidemics as examples to help explain why monkeypox isn't a sexually transmitted infection — at least not by the classic definition.

Ebola had plagued Africa for decades while being overlooked by most of the world with regard to resources and research. In 2013, the long-known virus flared up, creating a global emergency.

New international attention created increased scrutiny, and it soon became clear that transmission involved sex. Ebola chiefly spreads because of direct contact with infected bodily fluids but occasionally moves between people via semen.

A similar story can be told about the Zika virus — it is mostly carried between people by mosquito bites but has also been transmitted by genital fluids. Neither Ebola nor Zika are typically listed as STIs — by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Now, as monkeypox spreads in the U.S., health experts are trying to tackle similar misconceptions about how this virus spreads.

Globally, the World Health Organization has recorded sexual transmission in 91% of cases this year — but that leaves about one in 10 infections spreading non-sexually. The global health agency also says that transmission via skin-to-skin contact during sex and bodily fluids cannot currently be “disentangled.”

“We have many diseases that can be transmitted sexually, but that's not necessarily the only route,” said Dr. Leslie Kantor, professor and chair of the department of urban global public health at the Rutgers School of Public Health. “And then those are not considered sexually transmitted infections.”

But the STI label can also be empowering, health experts said.

It can help at-risk groups to spend more thought on making informed decisions about their sexual activity. Given that many people in New York City seem to be getting the virus through sexual or intimate contact so far, public health officials have started to caution against risky sexual behavior. The STI label can also come with greater access to health care, such as free testing.

WNYC/Gothamist spoke with more than a half-dozen epidemiologists, professors of medicine and health care policy experts to address the fundamental question of whether monkeypox should be considered an STI and other unknowns circulating around the orthopoxvirus.

Host David Furst spoke with health and science editor Nsikan Akpan about what they said. Click "listen" in the player to hear the conversation, and visit Gothamist for more details.