The US health agency offered advice on how to avoid contracting monkeypox during the event.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued guidelines for “safer sex” amid the spread of the monkeypox virus, urging romantic partners to take steps to reduce exposure to the rare disease.
Published Friday and titled “Safer Sex, Social Gatherings, and Monkeypox,” the CDC document advises couples to be wary of “any new or unexplained rash or lesion” in various parts of the body, a hallmark symptom of the monkeypox virus.
While the agency said the monkeypox vaccination would offer protection, it added that the limited supply of doses currently could mean that some will not have access to an immunization.
So, short of a prick, the CDC suggested that people avoid “anonymous sexual contact” y “private and public sex parties” instead of proposing “virtual sex without contact in person”. Alternatively, the lovers could also “Masturbate together from a distance without touching each other and without touching any rashes”, o “Consider having sex with [their] Clothes on,” the document continued.
More than 6,000 monkeypox infections have been confirmed in the US since May, with a disproportionate number among gay men. While it is still unknown whether the virus is spread primarily through sex itself or simply through prolonged contact involving sexual intercourse, World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month That men “with multiple sexes” same-sex couples are particularly at risk.
On Thursday, the White House followed the WHO’s lead in declaring monkeypox a public health emergency, with US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra calling for “All Americans take monkeypox seriously.”
While rare, the virus has been detected in the US before, with a Texan hospitalized with monkeypox last summer after traveling to West Africa, where the pathogen is endemic. In 2003, more than 70 cases were confirmed in the US, marking the first outbreak seen outside of Africa, according to the WHO.