Monkeypox: What We Know

The World Health Organization (WHO) called an emergency meeting on Friday as Monkeypox cases topped 100 in Europe. Here are some things to know.

It’s not common. Monkeypox is a well-known virus from Africa. Small outbreaks have occurred and are usually easily tracked and contained. The current situation is different. The origin is unclear and the virus is spreading more than expected.

The risk is low. Despite concerns from researchers who haven’t seen this situation before, symptoms are similar to the flu, and severe cases involve rashes and small lesions. It’s usually mild, and those affected recover in 2-4 weeks. It’s also spread only through very close contact.

It’s mainly affecting gay men who contracted the virus through sexual activity. All of the patients revealed so far are men. Additionally, a massive pride festival in Spain is being investigated as a superspreader event. Some scientists take the woke route and urge many to avoid linking the virus to gay men.

A coincidence. According to the National Pulse, the Wuhan Lab—the likely origin of the coronavirus pandemic—assembled a monkey pox virus genome and possibly created a “contagious pathogen” just months before the outbreak.

Additionally, a monkeypox preparedness exercise was held in March 2021 that simulated a pandemic start date to be May 15, 2022. Some of the participants in the simulation were from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China’s CDC.