After the discovery of monkeypox in China, disease control experts warn "don't touch the skin of foreigners" - BBC News

September 20, 2022 at 2:13 am

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Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has sparked controversy by warning the public not to have “direct skin-to-skin contact” with foreigners.

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The day after the first case of monkeypox was detected in mainland China, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, sparked controversy by warning the public not to have “direct skin-to-skin contact.” “with foreigners.

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The southwestern city of Chongqing found a case of monkeypox on September 16. Wu Zunyou suggested on Weibo: “Don’t have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners.”

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Some critics dismissed the description as racist and the post has now been disabled for comment.

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Wu Zunyou wrote on Weibo that his plea was “to prevent possible monkeypox infection and as our daily healthy lifestyle.”

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In addition to this advice, he also urged the public to “not have skin-to-skin contact with people who have recently returned from abroad (within three weeks)” and “not have skin-to-skin contact with strangers.”

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Wu Zunyou also appealed to “pay attention to good hand hygiene”, “use public toilets, including hotel toilets on a business trip, if using toilets, use disposable toilet paper the As much as possible, if conditions do not allow, you can also use a handkerchief soaked in alcohol or soaked in. Clean it with warm water with a paper towel before using it.

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The first confirmed case of monkeypox found in Chongqing was a 29-year-old Chinese vendor, according to a “Site Minutes” published Monday (September 19) by the weekly report from the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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He had “a lot of sexual intercourse” after visiting Germany on September 2, then he went to Spain and returned to Chongqing on September 14.

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monkeypox virus — image caption,

The southwestern city of Chongqing found a case of monkeypox on September 16.

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A statement released by the Chongqing Municipal Health and Health Commission says the patient was discovered due to rashes and other symptoms during a centralized quarantine for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in China.

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The statement also states that all those in close contact with the confirmed cases have been quarantined and placed under medical observation.

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As China’s leading epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou’s Weibo was widely reposted on social media over the weekend and he, who has nearly half a million followers, was criticized by many.

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“(To say this) is very inappropriate. At the beginning of the epidemic, some foreigners came forward (to defend us), saying that the Chinese do not represent the virus.”

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“How racist is he? And someone like me who has lived in China for nearly ten years? We haven’t seen our family for three or four years because the border is closed,” wrote another Weibo user who appeared to be a foreigner.

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Since the global outbreak of the new corona epidemic, China is one of the countries in the world that has adopted the most stringent epidemic prevention measures, including strict entry and exit control, rapid lockdown, wide-ranging nucleic acid testing. scale and travel ban.

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The monkeypox virus is spread through close contact with an infected person, animal, or contaminated material and usually causes symptoms such as fever, headache, and skin rashes.

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About 90 non-endemic countries of monkeypox have reported outbreaks of the infectious disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox an international public health emergency.

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There are currently more than 60,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally, and some non-traditional monkeypox endemic countries have reported related deaths.

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