Health & Science — Monkeypox Outbreak
The New Monkeypox Outbreak Isn’t a Gay Man’s Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday alerted gay and bisexual men that monkeypox appears to be spreading in the community globally —CNBC reports
What’s next? Before you go on social media and spread conspiracy theories, like #BillGatesBioTerrorist or take this opportunity to show your homophobia, here are some facts you need to know.
Because a large proportion of the recently reported Monkeypox cases have been discovered among gay, bisexual, and other males who have sex with men, UNAIDS voiced worry on Sunday that certain media reporting and discussion was reinforcing homophobic and racial prejudices. — UNAIDS
Yes, the new cases are reportedly coming from men who have sex with men, and the outbreak happened in non-endemic countries like the UK and US. Anyone can get monkeypox and as of today, monkeypox isn’t classified as a sexually transmitted disease or infection.
“Many diseases can be spread through sexual contact. You could get a cough or a cold through sexual contact, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a sexually transmitted disease,” said Andy Seale, who advises the WHO on HIV, hepatitis and other sexually transmitted infections. — Excerpt from a CNBC report.
About the illness
Monkeypox is similar to smallpox. Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted from animals to humans) with symptoms that are strikingly similar to those seen in smallpox patients in the past. However, it is less severe clinically.
The West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade are the two clades of the monkeypox virus.
The name Monkeypox comes from the fact that the virus was first discovered in monkeys in a Danish laboratory in 1958. In 1970, the first human case was discovered in a kid in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and infected surfaces such as bedding can spread the monkeypox virus from one person to another. Monkeypox normally takes 6 to 13 days to incubate, although it might take longer.
Again, anyone can get it not only men who have sex with men.
Experts say monkeypox was likely spread by sex at two raves in Europe. According to Dr. David Heymann, former head of WHO’s emergency section sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men during two raves in Spain and Belgium is suspected to have caused the outbreak.
As many of the cases have been reported in sex clinics across the UK.
How do you catch it?
Primarily, from an animal bite, scratch or contact with the animal’s bodily fluid. Then the virus can spread to other people through coughing and sneezing or contact with pus from the lesions.
Signs and Symptoms
Final words
The amount of misinformation on social media hurts people. At the onset of the monkeypox outbreak, on Twitter, many are blaming Bill Gates calling him a bioterrorist.
And if you’re following the conversation about Bill Gates, every catastrophe is now being blamed on him.
It doesn’t help that in the past, his association with shady characters like Jeff Epstein only amplified the conspiracy theories around him and the Gates Foundation.
It will be sad if people start talking about monkeypox as a gay man’s disease. We can only look back at history when HIV first came out everyone started calling it a gay man’s disease, which resulted in those with HIV being discriminated against and stigmatized resulting in a full-blown AIDS crisis.
Let us not repeat history, and don’t be the one spreading fake news or misinformation on social media.
Misinformation is a cultural virus that kills more people than any disease.
Thank you for reading.
Reports from these sources:
Monkeypox outbreak is primarily spreading through sex, WHO officials say
Expert: Monkeypox likely spread by sex at 2 raves in Europe
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