The prediction that Bill Gates made about smallpox that could be close to coming true

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has done it again. Months before cases of monkeypox appeared in Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the United States and apparently now in Argentina, the tycoon and businessman had already issued a harsh warning about this infectious disease.

In November 2021, Gates spoke out, in a one-on-one interview with British MP Jeremy Hunt, about possible terrorist attacks involving the smallpox virus. Even, on that occasion, he provided a potential solution to prevent that from happening.

“Governments around the world would have to play germ games,” he had argued. The philanthropist insisted at the time that if people lived in a constant bond with various bacteria, they could develop greater defensive barriers to combat them and it would be easier to respond to attacks.

“What if a bioterrorist brought smallpox to ten airports? Do you know how the world would respond to that?” Was the question that the founder of Microsoft asked and that he himself answered with an even darker forecast. “Epidemics caused by bioterrorism could be much worse than what we experience today,” He predicted .

As he has done since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, Gates stressed in the last part of the interview the need for world leaders to be prepared to face any virus that is released with the intention of harming other human beings.

The statements of the technology entrepreneur, which were revived in recent days by media around the world, caused a stir on social networks. Many users echoed all sorts of conspiracy theories pointing to him behind the current monkeypox outbreak.

Most of those comments were grouped under the hashtags #BillGatesBioTerrorist and #BillGatesMonkePox . They accused him not only of that but also of having spread all kinds of pathogens and experimenting with people from the third world for years.

What is monkeypox, how is it spread and what are its symptoms?

In the case of monkeypox, the rash usually starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.

The disease is caused by an orthopoxvirus of the smallpox family , the first disease eradicated by humans thanks to vaccines. It is called monkey because it was discovered in these animals in 1958, although it can also be found in rodents.

The main route of infection is from wild animals to humans. To become infected between people, there must be close contact, which involves exchange of body fluids (mucosa, wounds, sexual fluids). It can also be transmitted by being in contact with objects with traces of fluids.

The symptoms are similar to those of smallpox, but somewhat milder. It begins with fever, muscle aches and headaches. One to three days after the fever, skin rashes form that first affect the face and then spread to the rest of the body. The most affected areas are the head, hands and feet.