Why it’s important to tell people that monkeypox is predominately affecting gay and bisexual men
theconversation.comemerging threat to public health. The World Health Organization recently declared the current outbreak a global public health emergency.For decades, several African countries have experienced ongoing outbreaks of MPXV, driven primarily by contact with animals and transmission within households.
However, before last year, most people in Europe and North America had never even heard of the disease. That was until the current outbreak among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.Over the past several months, a controversy has raged about whether it’s OK to say that the current MPXV outbreak is primarily affecting gay and bisexual men, and that it is primarily being spread through close personal contact, such as sex. Read more: Metaphors matter: Why changing the name 'monkeypox' may help curb the discriminatory language used to discuss it As a social and behavioural epidemiologist working with marginalized populations, including gay and bisexual men, I believe it’s important that people know that sexual and gender minority men are the primary victims of this MPXV outbreak.
I believe this knowledge will help us end the outbreak before it bridges into other communities. For reference, more than 90 per cent of cases in non-endemic countries have been transmitted through intimate sexual contact, and the vast majority of cases are among gay men.
Very few cases are linked to community transmission. While these statistics are undisputed, some have feared that identifying sexual behaviour as the primary cause of current MPXV transmission would dampen the public health response.
