The Global Monkey Pox Outbreak May Be Linked To Gay Sex & Fetish Events
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There is global monkey pox outbreak occurring and it may be linked to gay sex and fetish events. Multiple clusters of monkeypox have been reported in Europe, North America, and Australia.
The monkeypox virus, which causes smallpox-like infection, is spreading around the world. It can be fatal in certain cases. Yes it is described as “under-recognized” and “underreported emerging disease”, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
So far, 12 countries — those that don’t normally report monkeypox (including in Europe and North America) — have confirmed cases of infections as of Saturday (May 21, 2022).
There are 111 people who had been infected or suspected to be infected with monkeypox virus (MPXV), according to latest reports by health authorities and www.global.health/.Cases of monkeypox have been reported or are suspected in the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, the UK and the US.There are about 80 confirmed cases as of Saturday (May 21, 2022), and 50 pending investigations — means the patients have already contracted the rare disease. Suspected cases, seen in initial tests, are undergoing confirmatory tests.
More cases are likely to be reported as surveillance expands. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with the affected countries and others to expand disease surveillance to find and support people who may be affected, and to provide guidance on how to manage the disease.
Public health experts and virologists say that the focus on gay men getting monkeypox now is “sadly reminiscent” of some of the initial reporting about HIV and AIDS 40 years ago.
“Monkeypox is not a gay disease, and neither are any other infectious diseases,” virus expert and physician Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, public health researcher Keletso Makofane, and another public health expert who goes by Dr. Neurofourier on Twitter wrote on the PLOS blog “Speaking of Medicine and Health” on Thursday.
“It is unfortunate that this still needs to be said, highlighting how little we have learned from previous outbreaks.”
The World Health Organization also chimed in on Friday, pointing out in a statement that anyone who closely interacts with an infectious person can be at risk of catching monkeypox.
“This includes health workers, household members and sexual partners,” the WHO said. “Stigmatizing groups of people because of a disease is never acceptable. It can be a barrier to ending an outbreak as it may prevent people from seeking care, and lead to undetected spread.”
With fewer than 150 suspected cases in total, both McCollum and Whitworth are cautious about raising the alarm too high among the general public.
“The likelihood is that the number of cases is never going to be that big,” Whitworth said. “It’s not like this is the next pandemic — we don’t think.”
Monkeypox cases in Spain have been linked to a superspreader event at an adult sauna in Madrid.
Enrique Ruiz Escudero, the region’s cabinet minister for health of the community, said on Friday that health officials had traced many of Spain’s 30 monkeypox cases to a single sauna in the capital.
Britain’s monkeypox tally now stands at 20 after 11 fresh cases were announced on Friday, and contact tracing and quarantine of close contacts is under way.
A “notable proportion” of the UK and European cases are in gay and bisexual men, health officials have said.
Three cases in Belgium have also been linked to a large-scale fetish festival in Antwerp, according to organisers. The Darklands Festival[warning: link takes you to festival promotional video, which is NSFW] warned people who attended four days of parties, starting on May 5, that authorities had linked the event to the country’s three confirmed cases.
“There’s reason to assume that the virus has been brought in by visitors from abroad to the festival after recent cases in other countries,” the festival said on its website.
Darklands is a ticketed event that describes itself as a place where “various tribes in the gay fetish community (leather, rubber, army, skinhead, puppies…) come together to create a unique spectacle of fetish brotherhood”.
Sources have told The Telegraph that an internationally advertised gay party in Spain is also being investigated as the root cause of the global monkeypox cases.
In the UK, a link was first drawn between gay men and monkeypox earlier in the week, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) urging men who have sex with men to be alert to any new rashes or lesions on their body, including their genitalia.
Photo: High school student Julian Glenn was believed to have contracted the monkeypox virus from his pet prairie dog, John, in this file photo taken in 2003.Image Credit: AP
