This Monkeypox Outbreak Is Different Than the Ones We‘ve Seen Before
The precautionary principle is warranted.
The monkeypox outbreak is quickly becoming a hot topic across every news outlet now. Nearly 150 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases have been reported across 14 countries —i.e., the U.K., Portugal, Spain, the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Italy, France, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, and Switzerland — as of today. And more are likely to come.
Some of the cases, but not all, are linked to recent travel from Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. But little did many know that the same incident occurred one year ago during mid-2021 when Covid was surging.
The monkeypox then-and-now
In a letter to the Journal of Medical Virology — “Re‐Emergence of monkeypox amidst delta variant concerns: A point of contention for public health virology?” — Sarwar et al., from Larkin Community Hospital in Florida, the U.S. has warned about the spread of monkeypox in the U.K. and U.S in mid-2021:
On July 17, 2021, a case was reported to the World Health Organization from the Dallas city of Texas in the United States. The patient had traveled from the United States to Nigeria on June 25, 2021, when he started having fever, vomiting, and a mild cough…
