Just a media lie?
claim: Many social media users think that there is no such thing as monkeypox, it’s just a hoax. And the pictures that are published with reports of the disease, are in fact old pictures or of other diseases such as impetigo. And about that, a lot of pictures are spread, especially on Twitter, to compare and prove the validity of this claim.
search resultDW: The claim is incorrect
Monkeypox is a real disease, and the virus that causes the disease has been known since 1958, and since 1970 it has been known to transmit to humans as well. There have always been cases of the disease, but it was limited to West and Central African countries. In Nigeria, there have been a large number of injuries since 2017, exceeding 500 cases and still continuing to this day.
The “old” photos that are supposed to prove that monkeypox reports are false, mostly agency photos of the disease, have been with those agencies for years. It is usual that the image is used frequently in reports on medical topics, because these images are few in the first place.
Some Twitter users, posting pictures of articles on monkeypox and herpes next to each other, which look similar and are two different diseases, to prove their claim that media reports on monkeypox are false.
A search engine search shows that the Queensland government’s info text on herpes has already been spelled out in a Twitter image, but for the monkeypox article, it’s a bit more complicated: at least since May 19, 2022 the info text posted on the health site doesn’t contain Twitter picture but on another picture.
An older version of the article dated July 17, 2021 actually shows a picture of herpes that has been published to show monkeypox, but in the meantime this error has been corrected. Thus an editorial error on a site does not change the fact that monkeypox is present.
Monkeypox caused by the corona vaccine?
claimAstraZeneca vaccine against corona contains weakened adenoviruses as a vector of DNA for the corona virus protein. For some users, this suggests that the monkeypox infection was due to the vaccine.
DW search result: The claim is incorrect
Monkeypox and monkey adenoviruses, even if the word “monkeys” might suggest a connection, the two viruses are different and unrelated. Christine Falk, president of the German Society for Immunology, says, “Monkeypox is called this name, because it was first discovered in 1958 among a group of monkeys. But in fact the source of the virus are rodents, and monkeys may be an intermediate vector.”
Adenoviruses, including chimpanzee adenoviruses, which are the basis for the vaccine vector, are completely different and are not monkeypox virus with different characteristics. Sometimes these viruses can cause infections similar to the common cold. “And there are some viruses that have been isolated from chimpanzees and modified for use in vaccines. Our bodies don’t have prior immunity like human adenoviruses.” So Falk and other experts don’t see corona vaccines as having anything to do with the monkeypox outbreak.
The source of the virus is a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan?
الادعاء: The Wuhan Institute of Virology is said to have conducted experiments with monkeypox viruses, and for some this is a clear indication of the current outbreak. This is reminiscent of the “lab theory” and the Corona virus, which researchers believe is out of the question, but has not been completely ruled out.
Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted experiments with PCR screening for monkeypox
search resultDW: The claim is misleading
In fact, there have been experiments with PCR tests for monkeypox. This is indisputable. In February 2022, a laboratory study transparently indicated this matter. However, this study only tested a portion of the virus containing less than a third of the monkeypox genome. According to the study, this part is completely safe, as there is no risk that it may develop again into an infectious virus.
“There is no evidence that monkeypox virus comes from a laboratory. The virus is found in the wild in animal populations in West and Central African countries. Almost every year there is a small outbreak of the virus in humans.” Dr. says. Mark Slivka, a researcher in virology and immunology, tells DW.
Slifka goes on to explain that by sequencing the genome, scientists can distinguish between different strains of the virus. Thus, it can be determined whether the virus is related to the monkeypox virus strain in West Africa or Central Africa. “To my knowledge, none of the initial cases that were reported, the patient had not traveled to China before he was diagnosed,” Slivka adds.
Even the World Health Organization has confirmed that all of the cases diagnosed so far are linked to the monkeypox virus strain that originated in West Africa. According to a research paper by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), the fact that more cases are currently occurring in Europe is probably due mainly to the so-called distributed events in the MSM scene since monkeypox is mainly transmitted through direct contact. with mucous membranes.
Is monkeypox an “epidemic”?
claim: On social media, there is a claim that an epidemic of monkeypox has been prepared for a long time. This was demonstrated by discussions at the Munich Security Conference based on the monkeypox scenario. Others have established a direct link between Bill Gates and the monkeypox outbreak, as he is said to have repeatedly warned of such a scenario.
The claim that preparations for the monkeypox outbreak were planned at the Munich Security Conference is incorrect
search resultDW: The claim is misleading
Simulations used as purported evidence for a planned monkeypox epidemic at the 2021 Munich Security Conference already exist, also with a mock monkeypox outbreak scenario in May 2022. The simulation was developed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative as part of the Munich Conference to draw attention to gaps in global pandemic coordination.
Diagrams are used in many contexts to prepare for complex scenarios/security risks and for example to test or verify operations. The fact that such a scenario actually occurs indicates the realistic nature of the scenarios, but does not prove causation and relationship.
The scenario is also close, but not realistic. For example, the real pathogen is less contagious, and transmission paths differ from the scenario in the Munich conference, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) recently explained in a statement, “The dummy scenario in our exercise indicated an engineered hypothetical strain of monkeypox virus that was more transmissible and more More dangerous than natural strains and spread all over the world, eventually causing, within 18 months, more than 3 billion infections and 270 million deaths.”
With the current outbreak there is no reason to assume that the pathogen has been manipulated. The current pathogen is not believed to have the potential to spread as quickly as a placebo in a simulated experiment, or to cause a higher death rate, according to the initiative.
Regarding the allegations about the relationship of Bill Gates to the disease, on the contrary, he has long been involved through his charitable foundation in the prevention of diseases and has been warning of the dangers of bioterrorism and epidemics for years, for example the smallpox outbreak. The possibility of such an outbreak or a bioterrorist attack with smallpox viruses has been discussed in several articles. Nor did Gates specifically mention monkeypox in his speeches.
It has been known for more than 50 years that monkeypox is transmitted and infects humans as well
Can the chief American virologist, Fauch, make a prediction?
claim: Chief US virologist Anthony Fauci gave money to research treatment options for the disease even before the current monkeypox outbreak. For some, this is a strong indication that this outbreak has been planned long in advance.
DW search result: It’s misleading
Research funding already exists. Since the discovery of the monkeypox virus in 1958 and the knowledge that people could be infected more than 50 years ago, there has been an ongoing search for treatment possibilities ever since. So the fact that such research projects exist is not a big surprise in itself. A search for “monkeypox” on the pages of research projects at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) reveals that there have been such projects on this virus and its treatment for years. In the scientific community, too little interest in such dangerous viruses and the diseases they cause is criticized, as long as the advanced industrial world does not directly suffer from them.
سيمونه شیرماخر / ع.ج
