There are 2 huge issues with monkeypox that may devastate the meat industry.

First some background. The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, like smallpox and cowpox. Monkeypox arose in Africa when they were experimenting with small pox and small pox vaccines on monkeys. It was discovered in 1958. This monkeypox then spread back to humans, either by skin-to-skin contact (scratched or bitten by an infected monkey, or maybe a human even had sex with a monkey), or people ate an infected monkey. This happened in 1970. I prefer the later theory. People ate an infected monkey and got infected.

Smallpox was eradicated from the world in 1980. The smallpox vaccine is made from cowpox (also called vaccinia) which is quite benign. This was a great achievement of man. It is not known if the smallpox vaccine will help immunise people from monkeypox. We are studying this at this very moment, as we are watching the virus spread around the world, and are using smallpox vaccines on close contacts.

Smallpox vaccine was stopped in public health in most western countries in 1972. We are not certain if these people are immune to monkeypox as yet as you have to be over 50 to belong to the smallpox vaccinated group.

The orthopoxviruses are DNA viruses. They do not mutate very much as the double stranded copy of itself help to collect errors and mutations. If certainly does not mutate like the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus with is a DNA virus, and has already produced at least 1000 variants and subvariant that we know about so far. Mutations on the coronavirus are happening even faster, in almost every person who is infected, and every time it replicates itself in a cell, as most are bad negative choices. This number is huge, like billion upon billions, or more.

Orthopoxviruses usually mutate about once a year, so the chances of generating a new variants is tiny, but it happened. Here is how. I suspect it probably happened inside an AIDS positive subject who held the monkeypox for a long period. A human enzyme APOBEC3 that usually destroys viruses by flipping their genes, then helped accelerate changes in the monkeypox for Nigeria into one that had 50 mutations in 4 years. search my blogs (click on my name and use search bar) for the clade/variant that exists in the Congo and has a CFR of 10% (30% in children). The Nigerian variant has a CFR of 1-3%. We have no idea what the CFR is with the new monkeypox virus which I have dubbed the Western Monkeypox Virus (WMPXV). It seems to be much less than the Nigerian version but it has not got into the general community as yet. Most infected have been fit-ish young gay men. We have no idea how it will affect children and the elderly. Based on the other 2 monkeypox viruses we know that children are 3 times more vulnerable. We will know by the end on 2022 when million of people will have been infected.

The #WMPXV spreads exponentially. We have 35,000 world cases now and it first case appeared in the UK on 5 May 2022. [The first case identified (index case) developed a rash on 5 May and was admitted to hospital in London, the United Kingdom on 6 May. On 9 May, the case was transferred to a specialist infectious disease centre for ongoing care. Monkeypox was confirmed on 12 May.], Nigeria only has about 3000 cases of its version on monkeypox in one year. The Nigerian version spreads to someone else with a probability of 3% whereas the WMPXV spreads to more than one person, that is exponentially. One is endemic and the other is epidemic/pandemic. We are dealing with a completely different beast now. Plus WMPXV may also be airborne. That would explain the fact that R naught (the reproductive number) is greater than one.

We know that monkeypox virus does not mutate much but can it recombine or crossover with another monkeypox virus? With the Nigerian strain of 4 years ago, with the Congo strain, with the vaccine vaccinia, with other small pox viruses in animals? Crossover or recombination can take place when a person is infected with 2 strains at the same time, and the problem will be exacerbated if animals get infected with monkeypox. There are a lot more animals that people. I am slightly concerned about vaccinating people possibly infected people with monkeypox (close contacts) with vaccinia during the pandemic, as this selectively puts monkeypox (WMPXV) together with the vaccinia virus.

Crossover has happened with the coronavirus when so many people were infected at the same time, around 50 million people. This is how Omicron XE formed. It is a combination of BA.1 and BA.2. So this is one want the monkeypox virus can evolve into something different, if these orthopoxviruses are present simultaneously. That is a concern, especially if monkeypox spreads to other animals.

The meat industry will certainly be devastated, if not destroyed, if monkeypox spread to animals like cows, sheep, etc.. If they get contaminated they cannot be eaten, so infected animals will need to be culled on the farm. Monkeypox will require overcooking of the meat to render it safe. At the moment we do not know which animals can catch monkeypox. Here is what the CDC USA says about which animals can be infected.

The other problem is that, being an DNA virus, monkeypox can survive in the open for much longer, on surfaces, in food, in the sun, etc, and it is harder to sanitize surfaces for it. Alcohol needs to be added for 10 minutes for example. Washing hands does not destroy it. I guess theoretically it can also get into the water system. So when you come home with food, you have to sanitize it. Thankfully we can use hypochlorous acid but the meat can be contaminated on the farm, at the abattoir, at the supermarket/butchers, and at home, so need to be cooked for something in the vicinity of 10 minutes, which will make it unpalatable. Fish can get contaminated at process facilities as well.

So enjoy your last few fillet streaks and schnapper fillets for now.

If people stop buying meat, the meat industry is also devastated.

Milk will need to be pasteurized, and handled with care. UVC light kills the monkeypox virus but if harmful to humans. The UVC coming from the sun, loses its harmful UVC to the Ozone layer.