Memo 7: Monkeypox

Key points

• The WHO declared Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, which is the highest level of alert

• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recommended that “gay and bisexual men reduce their number of sexual partners”

• Daily Mail published a very stigmatizing article about children getting monkeypox from gay men

• NYC officials are pushing for changing the name of monkeypox due to its stigmatizing and racist connotations

• Stanford’s Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network is the only publishing US monkeypox wastewater data. This week, monkeypox has been detected in the wastewater data in nearly every routinely tested plant.

  • There is no evidence that you can contract monkeypox from wastewater itself.

  • Medical journal: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.25.22278043v1

  • This is something to watch out for, considering monkeypox is a zoonotic virus

    • UK is not currently recommending extra PPE for pest control

• 2018 African Rodent Importation Ban to prevent monkeypox importation: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/african-ban.html

• Monkeypox cases in the US have doubled since last week.

Sources

• https://www.npr.org/2022/07/25/1113528060/the-who-declares-monkeypox-a-public-health-emergency-as-cases-pass-16-000-worldw

• https://virological.org/t/initial-observations-about-putative-apobec3-deaminase-editing-driving-short-term-evolution-of-mpxv-since-2017/830

• https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/monkeypox-who-recommends-gay-bisexual-men-limit-sexual-partners-to-reduce-spread.html

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11040679/Two-children-test-positive-monkeypox-CDC-confirms.html

• https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nyc-health-officials-look-to-rename-monkeypox-over-stigma-in-communities-of-color/

• https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/23/1056399/monkeypox-california-wastewater/

• https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/african-ban.html

• https://bpca.org.uk/News-and-Blog/monkeypox-rats-and-pest-control--should-we-be-concerned--bpca#:~:text=Monkeypox and rats&text=Monkeypox is zoonotic

• https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/health/monkeypox-vaccine-health-wen-wellness/index.html

• https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/index.html