It seems as if the world is having brand new “pandemics” all the time, or perhaps it is just that the press is reporting on more disease outbreaks after being sensitized during the past few years when a coronavirus has dominated world headlines.
On August 4, the World Health Organization said it is debating whether to declare a pandemic of Monkeypox. WHO Director General Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has him worried. The disease is spreading to neighboring countries, too.
According to DRC medical scientists, a new strain appeared in June that spreads faster than the old one, and is more dangerous. It appeared in the eastern section of the violent, war-ridden country. Researchers first found it, unsurprisingly, in prostitutes working near the border of Rwanda. The new strain is known as Clade-1b.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, fear about Monkeypox even started to grip the United States, though there was never any serious outbreak in North America. Nevertheless, gay men could be seen lining the streets of major cities in 2022 waiting for a vaccine for the disease that is most easily spread through sexual contact. Gay men in San Francisco showed up as early as 2 am with folding chairs to get a good place in line.
In a comical bid to avoid absurd charges of “racism,” the World Health Organization tried to rename the disease “mpox” to remove the word “monkey.” They were prompted, presumably, by the deranged racial grievances of the United States, where using the word “monkey” is often seen as a racist attack against American blacks (as absurd as this may seem to international readers).
While the disease did occur in the U.S., there was no wide-scale spread despite what appeared to be a concerted effort by media and health organizations to scare Americans into lining up for a vaccine. While there was some panic, it quickly subsided.
This new strain of the disease spreads more rapidly and is said to cause more severe illness and death than the 2022 strain.
