The outbreak of monkeypox in a dozen Western nations is a “random event” that appears to have been the result of transmission among homosexual and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium, according to a World Health Organization adviser.
Dr. David Heymann, the former head of the WHO’s emergencies department, told the Associated Press that monkeypox “can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission.”
The disease largely has not spread beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals. In central and western Africa, people mainly are infected by animals such as wild rodents and primates.
The WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in about a dozen countries, including the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia and Israel. The disease typically presents with fluid-filled lesions on the face, hands and feet.
President Biden commented Sunday to reporters in South Korea, “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”
However, Dr. Robert Malone emphasized in an interview Saturday with “War Room” that the disease’s mortality rate in humans is less than 1%, and the cases in the West so far have been limited to men who have sex with men.
“It’s absolutely another case of the government and the media cooperating to spin up more fear that is absolutely unfounded,” he said.
On his Substack page, Malone wrote:
In my opinion, based on currently available information, Monkeypox is a virus and disease which is endemic in Africa, emerges sporadically after transmission into humans from animal hosts, and is typically spread by close human contact. It is readily controlled by classical public health measures. It does not have a high mortality rate. Unless there has been some genetic alteration, either through evolution or intentional genetic manipulation, it is not a significant biothreat, and has never been considered a high threat pathogen in the past.
See the “War Room” interview with Dr. Robert Malone:
The World Health Organization’s top official in Europe, Hans Kluge, said Friday the cases of monkeypox “currently being detected are among those engaging in sexual activity.”
He said the continent should expect a wave of monkeypox. The spread in Western Europe, he said, is “atypical,” as most previous cases were confined to central and West Africa.
“As we enter the summer season … with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission [of monkeypox] could accelerate,” Kluge said.
Asked to comment on Biden’s “concern” about monkeypox, White House health adviser Dr. Ashish Jha downplayed the outbreak, telling ABC News’ Martha Raddatz it’s a virus “that we understand.”
“We have vaccines against it, we have treatments against it, and it spreads very differently than SARS-CoV-2,” he said.
Health officials are investigating Florida’s first presumptive positive case of monkeypox, the Palm Beach Post reported. A state health department spokesman said the singular case is related to international travel and the person is isolated.
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