This past Wednesday, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) called on those on social media platforms and news organizations to combat what they call monkeypox misinformation via national regulations as the virus quickly spread throughout a global outbreak.
This past weekend, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus labeled the virus as a “public health emergency of international concern.” Recent stats seem to indicate that there are over 18,000 cases and five deaths spread out over 78 countries. Almost 70% of said cases were discovered in Europe, while the Americas make up roughly 25% of cases.
This virus has spread primarily among “men who have sex with men” and is actually spread via close physical contact, which includes sexual intercourse. Additionally, the virus could be spread by making contact with objects that had recently been used by a person with the virus.
Ghebreyesus issued a warning that stated that men who take part in homosexual sex should reduce the total number of partners they engage with in that way and further called for caution from countries in order to be on guard against any and all disinformation regarding the new virus.
“The stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak,” explained the Director-General. “As we have seen with COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation can spread rapidly online.”
“So we call on all social media platforms, tech companies, and news organizations to work with us to prevent and counter harmful information,” he went on.
In a recent letter from New York City’s Department of Health to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, they claimed that the city has once again become the central point of a contagious disease as it broke the barrier of 1,000 confirmed cases.
The department also stated their worry about the effect that the name of the disease, monkeypox, could have on various communities “given the stigma it may engender, and the painful racist history within which terminology like this is rooted for communities of color.”
The letter in question asked for the WHO to issue some alternative names for the virus, such as “hMPRXV” and “MPV,” as the disease does not “originate in monkeys.”
The website for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, makes the claim that monkeypox was first found back in 1958 when a pair of outbreaks of the pox-like disease happened throughout colonies of monkeys that had been kept for research. Despite this information, the CDC states that the source of the disease still currently remains unknown.
The Biden administration just may end up declaring monkeypox a national public health emergency at some point in the next few days, as reported by Politico. The announcement would come down from the Department of Health and Human Services and would issue the federal agency the power to request new money and appoint new personnel.
It was stated to The Washington Post by a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, that it just may end up being far too late stop the virus from beomcing endemic throughout the U.S.