Monkeypox is in the news now. How afraid should you be? Authorities may use this as the next pandemic to justify authoritarian control of your life again. Judge for yourself if this is warranted.
What is Monkeypox?
Dr. Robert Malone gives a good overview of the virus in his Substack article Monkey Pox. Key points are:
- It is a zoonotic virus with many potential animal hosts.
- Like other “pox” viruses, it is a DNA virus, not an RNA virus like SARS-CoV-2 and is very stable, subject to a low mutation rate. There won’t be lots of “variants”.
- It has likely been around for a long time in its native areas in Africa and has a low mortality rate.
- It is not a respiratory viruses so masks are unnecessary. Transmission is through contact with bodily fluids like HIV. It has a low transmissivity of less than 1 and therefore is unlikely to create a pandemic.
- Vaccines for other pox viruses or natural immunity from infection with other pox viruses should confer a degree of immunity to monkeypox.
- Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a distinctive bumpy rash.
Malone summarizes his view as:
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.
Another good overview article is from Zero Hedge: Everything You Want To Know About Monkeypox, But Were Afraid To Ask.
BNO News is tracking global case numbers:
In short, there is nothing to worry about unless the active strain is one released from a bioweapons program that has been genetically crossed with smallpox.