For the second time in as many years, the World Health Organization has declared mpox (the new, non-racist, politically correct name for what used to be called monkeypox) to be a "global health emergency" . . . but is it really?
According to a BBC report, here's the incidence of mpox cases in Africa (the epicenter of the outbreak) over the past couple of years. Click the image for a larger view.
So, Congo has reported more than 10,000 cases - out of a population estimated at about 110,000,000. At a rough guesstimate, that amounts to an infection rate of less than one hundredth of one percent. The rest of the continent is way down on that number, to an almost infinitesimally small proportion of the continent's population - yet that's defined as a global health emergency?
There's also the fact that mpox is spread through close - indeed, often intimate - physical contact. According to the BBC:
Mpox spreads from person to person through close contact with someone who is infected - including through sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person.
The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract or through the eyes, nose or mouth.
It can also be spread through touching objects which have been contaminated by the virus, such as bedding, clothing and towels.
Close contact with infected animals, such as monkeys, rats and squirrels, is another route.
During the global outbreak in 2022, the virus spread mostly through sexual contact.
The current outbreak from DR Congo is being driven by sexual contact, but has also been found in other communities.
There's more at the link. Left unspoken is that men having anal sex with other men are the primary catchment area - you should pardon the expression - for the virus. In the USA, a previous outbreak of mpox was largely confined to the gay community, with relatively few cases outside it.
Therefore, if you don't have sex with an infected person, particularly anal sex, you're very unlikely to catch mpox - particularly if you live in a country with relatively spacious living quarters, so you aren't jammed up together in a hovel, and if you observe routine First World hygiene practices.
In so many words, this is NOT a "global health emergency". It's a routine outbreak of a disease that has been with us for generations, and in most cases is not fatal. Victims usually recover without medical treatment, which is often not available in remote areas. The fatality rate is given as up to 4%, but that's highly debatable. (Don't forget, for years I passed through the areas of Africa shown on the map above, and talked to medical personnel there. Based on that, I'd guesstimate the fatality rate to be no more than 1%-2% - much the same as many other "routine" diseases like flu in that part of the world. It's far lower in First World countries.)
The WHO is using the relatively unknown status of mpox in the Western world as a thinly veiled excuse to whip up emotions, make people listen to its guidance, and boost its own importance in the health care ecosystem that gave us the COVID brouhaha. The US government is not far behind, having committed over $150 million to buy bulk supplies of a mpox vaccine. However, it's not (yet) recommending a large-scale vaccination program, probably because it knows full well that most of us won't believe it if it says such a program is necessary.
I can only suggest that such warnings by the WHO and other bodies be treated with the skepticism they deserve.
Peter
17 comments:
"In the USA, a previous outbreak of mpox was largely confined to the gay community, with relatively few cases outside it."
And a lot of those relatively few cases were in children who were under the guardianship of gay men.
I've heard it's the viral infection that really will get you in the end.
I suspect that WHO misses the power and funding they had from CVD and will do anything they can to repeat it.
Jonathan
It's at best a regional outbreak. If those low numbers are the threshold for a global warning, I guess we're in a continuous global warning for flu/colds, dysentery, and all sorts of diseases that will never be completely eradicated.
The WHO has to help the Democrats this election cycle. This is more Leftist bull puckey. I am glad that the "treaty" giving the WHO control in a "health emergency" failed; otherwise they probably would have called off the U.S. elections and then the Democrats could have used the 25th to install Harris as the President.
It's the UN-WHO, they can't generate lots of grift and graft over a regular flu or bug.
It's past time to tell all factions of the UN to get the hell off of US soil and to cut off all monies to that corrupt pile of corrupt people committing corruption on our dime.
Who (not WHO - or maybe) is making the vaccine?
The WHO doesn't tell you that as long as you keep your skinflute out of another man's poopchute, your chances of being infected are basically zero...
World
Hustling
Organization...
REV'R'ND!!!
Gosh does this look like something else we've seen before? A disease mostly passed through male-to-male sex interactions with roots in Africa and later Caribbean islands and occasional bursts in younger cohorts likely from abuse (and later blood product contamination)?
As often noted history doesn't repeat but it does rhyme and luckily MPOX seems far harder to pass than AIDS (aka GRIDS). In a sane world certain precautions (limit promiscuous sex, use protection, etc.) would be suggested but with AIDS mostly controllable/ vaguely preventable the norms of that community have returned to late 70's early 80's. There are no "elder statesmen" to warn them, they are mostly dead from the last contagion or folks in their 60's and 70's that no one listens to. And those outside the community dare not tell them what they don't want to hear.
Like the little birdie in the rhyme they've built their nest in the waterspout only to be washed out again
Not just children, but the dogs of gay men as well...
They had their fun trying to sell AIDS as a "global health emergency". Turns out it's overwhelmingly gay men, IV drug users, and gay IV drug users.
Global, not so much.
Now they want to roll out v2.0 with buttmonkypox?
Yeah, no.
Nice try.
This is like being the second beer company to hire a drag queen for a spokeshole.
And all this after 5 years of lies about COVID "vaccines".
No sale.
In fact, this is liable to get people to send monkeypox gift baskets of the disease to any gay men and IV drug users they know, just to cut to the chase.
I'm inclined to read "global health emergency" as... "opportunity to give public money to friends and relatives of well-connected people."
Non-racist?
MONKEYPOX! MONKEYPOX! MONKEYPOX!
And that's all I have to say about that.
--Tennessee Budd
Tell me it's an election year without telling me it's an election year.
Well, it is a threat to one of the Left's favorite demographics - gay black men.
My local city council in Australia is flying the UN flag outside of their head office. It blew my mind when I first saw this, and the average swinging Richard here either doesn't see it shrugs and says "meh, so what?", or genuinely thinks its a good thing. My city council is also openly announcing it is going to become a "SMART-city". Have any of you good folks in the US noticed anything similar in your area?
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