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Natural Sciences and Technology. Illustration source: PEXELS/Anthony
Recently, many people have been discussing monkey pox. This disease is an infection caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus family of viruses. This disease was first recognized in 1958 in Denmark, when two monkeys became ill with smallpox-like symptoms. They are part of a monkey colony used for research. This disease was later given the name monkey pox or monkeypox. In 1970, the first case of monkeypox in humans occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa, at a time when there was a massive effort to eradicate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox in humans has spread in rural areas of western and central Africa, and also in several other countries such as the United States, Singapore and the Philippines.
Monkeypox in humans can be transmitted through direct contact with blood, body fluids, or wounds from infected people or animals, or through contaminated objects such as clothing or equipment. Symptoms of monkey pox in humans usually appear after an incubation period of around 5-21 days, and include fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, rash and lumps. Usually people infected with monkey pox will recover within a few weeks, but some cases can cause serious complications such as secondary infections, pneumonia, encephalitis, or blindness. There is no specific vaccine or treatment for monkeypox, but the smallpox vaccine may provide partial protection. Prevention of monkey pox involves avoiding contact with potentially infected animals, practicing good hygiene, and using personal protective equipment.
So what does this have to do with biological weapons?
According to former Soviet scientist Kanat Alibekov, Russia considered using the monkeypox virus as a biological weapon until at least the 1990s. Alibekov, also known as Kenneth Alibek, was an expert on the Soviet Union’s biological weapons until the country’s dissolution in 1991. Alibek conveyed this in 1998, when he was interviewed by the American Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project (CBWNP) team. “So, we developed a special program to determine what ‘model’ viruses could be used as substitutes for human smallpox. We tested vaccinia virus, mouse pox virus, rabbit pox virus, and monkey pox virus as models for smallpox,” Alibekov said.
The concept is that all research and development activities will use a smallpox model virus as the object.
“After we obtain a series of positive results, it will only take two weeks to carry out the same manipulations with the smallpox virus and to stockpile war agents. In our arsenal we will have a genetically modified smallpox virus that can replace previous weapons,” stressed Alibekov .
A group opposing the vaccine, Children’s Health Defense, also suspects that monkeypox was created in a laboratory and that the US government may have deliberately spread it, but this allegation is not supported by scientific evidence.
An IPB University researcher, Diah Iskandriati, said that monkey pox is a select agent, namely a biological agent that has the potential to cause harm to public health or national security. However, he also said that monkey pox can be prevented with vaccination and early detection. He advised people to be careful of the symptoms of monkey pox and avoid contact with animals that may be infected.
“This agent is categorized as an agent that is easily misused as a biological weapon,” he concluded.
However, some of the biological agents and toxins from monkeypox are actually harmless in their natural form. However, if it is modified and released in large quantities it will cause an epidemic that will ravage humans.
2024-01-10 02:09:05
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