Cases were under-reported in the early days of the epidemic as individuals who contracted the virus went underground instead of seeking medical care. The repercussions of labelling HIV infection a homosexual disease led to untold suffering in gay communities in the 1980s who were blamed for the epidemic. Stigma directed at a particular group of individuals fuels fear and seriously impedes upon outbreak investigation, case identification and public health interventions. It is unfortunate that this still needs to be said, highlighting how little we have learned from previous outbreaks.
Monkeypox is not a gay disease and neither are any other infectious diseases. The narrative emerging as this outbreak evolves to involve other European countries, Canada and the United States is sadly reminiscent of initial reporting on pneumocystis pneumonia clusters in gay men with AIDS forty years ago. The initial cluster of cases which first appeared in the United Kingdom so far includes four men who identify as gay or bisexual or other men who have sex with men (MSM). Titanji MD PhD, Keletso Makofane, PhD and recent weeks multiple cases of confirmed and suspected monkeypox infections have been reported in three European countries.
