WHO Advisor: "Monkeypox Likely Spread at Large-Scale Rave Parties in Europe"

Microscopic images of the monkeypox virus (left) and immature spherical poxvirus (right) provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2003.

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] A senior advisor at the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that the monkeypox outbreak was an accidental event that occurred at two large-scale rave parties held in Europe.

David Heymann, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, stated this in an interview with the Associated Press on the 23rd.

He explained that the leading hypothesis is that the recent spread of monkeypox infections originated from sexual contact between gay and bisexual men at two rave parties held in Spain and Belgium.

Monkeypox has never widely spread outside of Africa.

Professor Heymann said, "We know that monkeypox spreads through close contact with the lesions of an infected person," adding, "Sexual contact seems to have amplified the transmission."

A senior health official in Madrid, Spain, announced that more than 30 cases have been confirmed so far.

Spain stated that it is investigating the connection between the recent gay parade held in the Canary Islands with about 80,000 participants and cases at a Madrid sauna.

Professor Heymann said, "It is highly likely that an infected person developed lesions on the genitals or hands and then spread the virus through physical close contact such as sexual contact," adding, "Then, with international events taking place, it became the seed for spreading to the United States and other European countries."

However, he noted, "Unlike COVID-19, it is not transmitted through the air and there is a vaccine," and added, "It does not seem likely to spread widely."

Nonetheless, some point out that it is difficult to distinguish whether the spread of monkeypox was caused by sexual intercourse itself or by close contact related to sexual activity.