Nearly 200 confirmed monkeypox cases have been reported in more than 20 countries outside Africa, where the virus is mostly found - including the first likely case in California, in Sacramento County, earlier this week. The singling out has sparked fears that gay and bisexual men, who appear to account for most of Europe’s monkeypox cases so far, are once again in danger of being stigmatized as carriers of an exotic and frightening disease, just as they were during the AIDS crisis.
Then, in a further comment that set different alarm bells ringing, the bulletin pointedly warned men who have sex with men to “seek immediate medical attention” if they detect signs of the disease. In a May 19 alert, the agency listed telltale symptoms of monkeypox: fever, aches, a rash. As mysterious cases of a rare and ominously named virus began surfacing in Europe, Germany’s disease control center quickly told people to be on the lookout.
