Morning

A chairde - Morning all!

Well, now monkeypox

7 positive cases here by now.

edition.cnn.com/2022/05/18/health/cdc-monkeypox-massachusetts/…

Looks unpleasant

@McNets They were talking about this on RTÉ (national radio station) this morning!

What's going on? Someone is spreading viruses around the world? One thing is an aerial virus like SARS but this one needs fluids contact to be contagious.

@McNets I think you need a lesson about the birds and the bees! :-)

On Irish radio, the lady from WHO said it was mainly reported by people from STD clinics!

It's possible there has always been background levels of this sort of rare thing, but people are more apt to notice it now, or take notice when it is reported. Also widespread air travel has only really just got going again.

I found it interesting the smallpox vaccine is effective against monkey pox but people stopped getting it when smallpox was eradicated

Also lucky this seems to be the strain that is 1% fatal vs the other which is 10%

Also you'd think the world would have learned some lessons about hygiene and whatnot in recent times but perhaps not everyone

reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/…

> Smallpox was eradicated by vaccination in 1980, and the shot has since been phased out. But it also protects against monkeypox, and so the winding down of vaccination campaigns has led to a jump in monkeypox cases in areas where the disease is endemic, according to Anne Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at UCLA in California.

@Vérace-СлаваУкраїні The same bee is flying around the world?

"birds and bees" is a euphemism for sexual intercourse

or procreation in general I suppose

@PaulWhite I know, just been sarcastic

oh ok wasn't sure you'd know that one

@PaulWhite 👍

We use bees and flowers for children, well, when I was young... Now they use internet

@McNets I can only assume that people who attend STD clinics also travel! :-)

@Vérace-СлаваУкраїні I am more concerned about the first who interacted with the monkey

Well monkeys clean themselves (with saliva) and people have been known to touch monkeys entirely innocently so transfer could happen that way

@McNets Many people in Africa eat monkies (AKA bush-meat) - it's not really that nice - kind of greasy pork - at least what I was given - I had a friend from Gabon whose friends used to bring it to Paris - I didn't know what it was till after. I thought it was pork. Now, when you're hunting these creatures, they are naturally terrified and will bite if cornered/trapped or caged - this is how infection is transmitted from monkey to man!