Memories of Corona – Mpox Outbreak Sparks New Conspiracy Theories

While the coronavirus has now disappeared from everyday life for many people in Germany and disinformation about Covid-19 is generally only shared online in relevant circles, false claims about Mpox have recently gained traction on Facebook, X, TikTok, Telegram and Co.

“The fact that the topic of Mpox was in the media is also reflected in the right-wing extremist and conspiracy-ideological Telegram channels,” says Miro Dittrich of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (Cemas), which researches radicalization trends and conspiracy stories on the Internet. According to the director of Cemas, the keywords “monkeypox” or “Mpox” were again mentioned particularly often in the approximately 5,000 Telegram channels and groups that were examined in mid-August.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a “public health emergency of international concern” due in part to the increasing spread of a specific Mpox virus variant (clade Ib) in Africa. It wants to encourage authorities around the world to be more vigilant.

Rumors of new lockdowns
The claim quickly spread online that the WHO had also ordered governments to prepare for another mega-lockdown. It has not. In any case, such a directive comes completely out of the blue: the international organization has neither the right nor the ability to do so. “Only the countries themselves have the sovereignty to make decisions and take measures for the health of their populations,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told the German Press Agency (dpa).

The story of the WHO’s excessive power resonated with many people during the Corona period – and it was just as wrong then as it is now. “Potential infringements of fundamental rights would only result from action by the sovereign state,” experts from the scientific services of the German Bundestag emphasized as early as 2023.

It turns out that false claims from the pandemic are often transferred one-on-one to Mpox. “Conspiracy ideologists can still reach people with the topic of Corona, but interest in it has already fallen to a specific group,” says Cemas expert Dittrich. There are no more government measures against which to mobilize.

“If a new disease emerges and there is a vaccine for it, then of course it falls under the same story,” the right-wing extremism researcher said. “The conspiracy ideologists don’t care at all how dangerous Mpox is, how the transmission works or what type of vaccination helps against it.”

“Mpox” is not Covid!
It is clear: the diseases are very different from each other. The transmission route of the two viruses alone differs significantly – and therefore also their infectious potential. SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted via small droplets in the air, i.e. the respiratory tract. With Mpox, however, skin-to-skin contact is the main route of infection.

This mainly involves close skin-to-skin contact during sex or hugging, massaging and kissing, as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) explains. There is a risk of infection, especially in infected people with rashes, wounds or scabs.

According to the RKI, no Mpox cases with clade I have been detected in Germany (as of August 31), which, according to preliminary findings, causes a more severe disease than the previously circulating virus variant (clade IIb). The RKI has so far registered around 3,800 cases of clade IIb nationwide, the majority of which (around 3,700) from early summer to autumn 2022. According to AGES (Agency for Health and Food Safety), 348 cases of Mpox have been reported in Austria since May 23, 2022 (as of August 19, 2024). Of these, eleven cases were reported in 2023 and ten cases so far in 2024. The disease is notifiable.

“Mpox is not the new Covid,” WHO director for Europe Hans Kluge made clear in mid-August. Asked by journalists whether lockdowns are imminent, as with the corona pandemic, he replied: “No.” The WHO also advises against wearing a face mask.

Vaccines have been available for a long time
In addition, vaccines against Mpox have been available for a long time. People are also taking action against them on social media. “The fundamental problem is that those who have rejected vaccinations during the pandemic are largely not really concerned about the specific effect of a vaccination itself,” says Dittrich. “A very large majority of these people believe that there is no virus. Or the virus is not dangerous. Or that the state wants to keep people under control through vaccinations and measures.”

Some deny the disease, others minimize its danger. Still others do not deny the diagnosis itself, but use it to label people as sinful. A misinformation that is often put forward is that Mpox is an infection that is only sexually transmitted between men. A similar stigma for gays and bisexuals began decades ago when it came to the topic of AIDS/HIV.

In fact, clade IIb has so far mainly affected men who have sex with men in Germany. Gender does not play a role in principle; infection is also possible during heterosexual intercourse or other close contact between people. In Africa, women suffer miscarriages as a result, and many children are also affected, especially in clade I.

“We see very strongly in the right-wing extremist scene that homosexuality is equated with perversity and immorality,” Dittrich says. Then it says: “Look, here they bring you the diseases.”