Russia on mpox: No risk due to our ‘traditional values’

MISOGINY, HOMOPHOBIA

Russian official laughs off threat of disease formerly known as monkeypox.

“Considering the specifics of how mpox is spread, I am absolutely sure that in Russia with its traditional values this disease, which is an epidemic disease, is not something we need to be afraid of” Anna Popova said. | Yevgeny Biyatov/AFP via Getty Images

August 19, 2024 

By Elena Giordano

Russia is pretty chill about the mpox threat.

Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian consumer protection watchdog, said there is no risk of mpox spreading in Russia, hinting that's because incidence is higher among gay people.

“Considering the specifics of how mpox is spread, I am absolutely sure that in Russia with its traditional values this disease, which is an epidemic disease, is not something we need to be afraid of,” Popova said in a video published Monday by Russian Telegram channel Shot.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights by making gender-affirming surgery illegal and through Russia's Supreme Court decision to label the international LGBTQ+ movement as “an extremist organization.”

Popova’s comments come after WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency last Wednesday, saying that "a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

The virus, previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted via contact with lesions of an infected person. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the virus has killed more than 500 people so far this year, with more than 17,000 suspected cases across Africa.

On Thursday, the Rospotrebnadzor announced that there was “no threat of the disease spreading in Russia” and that the government was taking “all the necessary measures to detect the infection ahead of time.”

Russia reported its first case of mpox in July 2022 in a man who had recently recently returned from Portugal. He was then isolated in the hospital and, according to the Rospotrebnadzor, the infection was stopped.

The variant of mpox which is now causing concern is different to that which spread in 2022. It is more deadly and is unaffected by the drug manufactured to fight the 2022-2023 outbreak.

Popova said that in Russia there have been three cases in total, all of which had been detected and contained on time. “For Russia this does not present a danger,” she said, adding: “We’re not expecting it to spread, it won’t happen.”