Lazarus Long Profile picture
Jul 26, 2022 44 tweets 23 min read Read on X
Speaking of the CDC - a thread on them NOT recommending masks - although an outbreak on a plane in 2021 was stopped by masks.

Per the actual monkeypox lead for the CDC.

And more - enjoy:

#MonkeypoxIsAirborne.

According to the CDC Travel department. Thank you, @jmcrookston .

"... Person to person spread is principally respiratory..."

Someone is going to try and squawk about respiratory droplets. Let's head that off at the pass.

wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowb… Image
The word is respiratory. Not respiratory droplets.

The word comes from respire.

Which comes from the Latin word "respirare."

To breathe in, and to breathe out.

I don't breathe in and out spittle. Neither do you.

We both breathe in and out aerosols. Airborne aerosols. Image
Expect that page to change now that I am notifying @CDCgov that their travel department has given the game away.

And relax. Breathe in clean air through your N95. Don't breathe in monkeypox.

(H/t @fitterhappierAJ ) Image
If there is asymptomatic transmission with a disease already suspected of airborne transmission? Odds go way up that it's airborne.

Because it moves airborne ahead of droplets. No symptoms means no coughing (no droplets).

Further tying asymptomatic transmission to monkeypox. It would be foolhardy to think this does not happen.

You might wonder why I am hammering down on this? #CoVidIsAirborne was SIGNIFICANTLY delayed due to authorities proclaiming not airborne since not asymptomatic.

Not this
time.

At the very least, even the most stubborn Benjamin Button type of science writer would concede that we should assume asymptomatic transmission is occurring.

Especially because they report what the authorities are reporting.

And the CDC as seen in an MMWR, used the
precautionary principle to euthanize those animals who might have asymptomatically transmitted monkeypox.

This was the 2003 outbreak:
cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/m… Image
This next one is an exercise in logic and an understanding of aerosols.

H/T @NjbBari3 !

Ok, noninvasive means ... See 👇

And here's the thing.

Those who were close to an animal? 80% experienced upper respiratory symptoms.

Using Occam's Razor, is it more likely the person touched the animal, then their mouth having just touched a prairie dog? Image
Or they were close enough for the concentrated cloud of near field aerosols surrounding the clustered cages, to be inhaled?

Keeping in mind, fomites, once thought to be one of the two main ways of infection of CoVid, are now relegated to the 1in 10,000 kitchen junk drawer.
Now, this is a HOT #MonkeypoxIsAirborne update.

You see, evidently they have been collaborating with Congo for a long time.

And it turns out it's airborne.

Per them.

H/t to @lavika and @sri_srikrishna .

Image
Of course, some will try to twist the above sneezing and coughing to mean droplet.

The key is "through the air" . And this is why you are glad that a #CoVidIsAirborne team member is now giving you the guided tour.

Because the phrase "through the air" has only one
meaning in CDC-landia.

For example, with TB. For sure known to be airborne by the CDC.

"Through the air."👇

cdc.gov/tb/publication… Image
Here is the Congo travel warning. Lots of backups to web archive.

wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices…
Another #MonkeyPoxIsAirborne Update!

H/T @DrEricDing and the US DHS.

"Humans can be contagious
before a visible rash appears and can continue shedding the virus weeks after symptoms
have dissipated. "

No symptoms means no lesions. No coughing.
dhs.gov/sites/default/…
What does that leave?

Just like CoVid, breathing, talking, laughing, etc - because it is airborne via aerosols.

And look at that, @celinegounder @benryanwriter, DHS confirming airborne aerosols

"Sources of laboratory-acquired infections include exposure to aerosols..." Image
The CDC should just write this thread on #MonkeypoxIsAirborne .

"... Wear a well-fitting mask..."

You don't need a mask for lesions or fomites.

You don't need a well-fitting mask for droplets.

You only need a well-fitting mask for airborne.

Image
This is getting embarrassing.

How is a smaller Anon account just beating the daylights out of the @CDCgov with their own words, over and over?

BTW, @CDCgov, in the linked doc, why not just recommend N95s?

There is no shortage.

Hmm.. let me put it in terms you can
understand.

@3M, a multinational corporation, will make more money if you actually say "N95."

(No offense intended 3M... Love your products, but when you speak to 5 year olds, you have to use words they understand.)
Yet another source for #MonkeyPoxIsAirborne.

Dynamed. A point of care solution by physicians for physicians.
dynamed.com/condition/orth… Image
Another update for #MonkeyPoxIsAirborne.

H/t @citlanx.

@celinegounder along with Benjamin has been pointing to the mostly MSM network of transmission as proof positive that it's not airborne.

As I have pointed out, it's just in that network.
Eventually, it will branch out.
You know the phrase - if you don't know your history, you will be doomed to repeat it?

Back in 2008, everyone was reporting that the drug-resistant MRSA was relegated to the MSM network.

And it was. For example, the @nytimes itself reported that MRSA was isolated to gay men.
archive.ph/ZNjAc

"A separate part of the study found that gay men in San Francisco were about 13 times more likely to be infected than other people in the city."

I am grateful that @apoorva_nyc has been reporting the possibilities of airborne transmission
in the NYTimes - even in the face of pushback from the CDC Director.

This MSRA history might be handy, Ms. Mandavilli.
archive.ph/Ftkc2d

Because there is no more mention of MSM with MRSA.

Sometime in the near future, certain parties will take a
mayoclinic.org/diseases-condi…
a break from Twitter. The CDC's website (am I the only one who views the focus on MSM as homophobic?) will be quietly redacted.
Excellent thread disconnecting sexual activity from Monkeypox.

Keep in mind - when we engage in sexual activity, our respiration rate increases - which means we see an increase in intake of aerosols.

Masters and Johnson had some classic work embedded in this study - the whole thing was fascinating.
sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1016/s0002-…
I haven't found any studies actually documenting the production of aerosols during sex - would love to give a H/t and include you in the thread if you know of one.

Given that the Gesundheit 2 might be ergonomically difficult to work with during sexual activity? Image
Another #MonkeyPoxIsAirborne update.

I almost feel sorry for
@benryanwriter @celinegounder as the onslaught of non-MSM cases begins.

You two probably won't watch it all the way through, but yep.... she shared that it's also airborne.

tiktok.com/t/ZTRUfTThX/?k…
I've just deleted a tweet where I stated that Monkeypox is only handled at BSL4 labs - that was incorrect.

The law does state that:
law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/42/73…

But, there was a caveat not viewable on that page, but over here is citation #4.

selectagents.gov/sat/list.htm

My apologies! Image
#MonkeyPoxisAirborne - because we breathe it out through - even when there are NO lesions present.

If lesions are present, then it's even more airborne due to those nasty little skin flakes.

Mask up, folks.
#MonkeyPoxIsAirborne - via a saliva test that correctly predicted the infected.

Huh?

Please bear with me.

Excellent results for saliva test:
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

This is huge for ring vaccination strategies.

Also, huge for airborne. 5 of 22 had no symptoms at the Image
time of test. 23%.

4 of the 5 did not have symptoms AT THE TIME. Which meant they went on to develop symptoms.

And yet they tested positive.

The authors nailed it as a concern.

Most likely - if you can test for it? You can spread it.

Mask it up! Image
#MonkeypoxIsAirborne because fomites are very rare.

"Only about 0.2% of people have caught the virus through contact with contaminated material, according to a recent report from the WHO."

Which suddenly make the sorts of reports in the next tweet?

statnews.com/2022/08/10/wha…
Make you realize it's airborne.

A Six Flags worker caught it just by walking by his coworker.

Image
#MonkeypoxIsAirborne - because NHS from the UK says its spread by coughing or sneezing. Which as we all know is accompanied by turbulent clouds of aerosols.

Which are airborne. This is for sneezing - coughing has the same basic mechanism.

nhs.uk/conditions/mon… Image
As always - there are many forms of transmission with monkeypox. Though as we saw above, thanks to the WHO, actual fomite-based infection is far below .5% of cases.

"A new airborne Ebola-like viral disease, referred to as ‘Monkeypox’ has hit the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital."

"They said the symptoms of the disease include...cough.."

H/t @mdc_martinus for:
guardian.ng/news/monkey-po…

H/t @Iamgoingtosleep for the top qt and pic. Image
A mystery infection. How, oh how, could he have been infected?

#MonkeypoxIsAirborne. Second study this progression has been observed.

Enters respiratory. Then to lymph, the off to the races, and finally the lesions on the skin.

H/t @beansprouts_mom

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Lazarus Long

Lazarus Long Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @LazarusLong13

Apr 24
Got bored. Let's just check out Google Scholar and E Coli. Oh my. Oh my, that's not good.

Yes, yet another episode of "that's airborne, TOO?!!!!!"

THREAD
Pigs:
"Airborne E. coli were isolated from indoor air,....and downwind air samples (10, 50, 100, 200 and 400 m away) for five swine houses" (1)

Cows:
"E. coli was isolated in both inside and outside air, even in samples taken 150 m from the farm." (2)

READY FOR THE FUN ONES?
Restaurants:
"E coli was identified as the most prevalent illness-causing bacteria in Zone A-derived aerosols (721 CFU)"
(3)

Hospital:
"The results also showed that airborne bacterial pathogens were present in all the sampled hospital wards." (4)

Ready for another fun one?
Read 6 tweets
Apr 21
Pope Francis passed - R.I.P.

He died from not masking.

Not masking led him to getting polymicrobial respiratory infection (multiple pathogens) on 2/6/2025, leading to bronchitis, to bilateral pneumonia, a respiratory event
- leading to stroke and cardiac arrest.
Timeline here:
cbsnews.com/news/pope-fran…

History of respiratory challenges.
cbsnews.com/news/pope-fran…

And here showing every year lately having "respiratory infections."
usatoday.com/story/life/hea…
Why didn't he mask? The peer pressure must have been enormous. Even those who know better often don't mask out of fear of social castigation.

And that's why mask mandates work so well. They allow people to mask if they want to.

And those who don't want to? Won't. But...
Read 4 tweets
Apr 20
Save this QR Code to your phone or save this tweet. Save it for the next time you get harassed by an antimasker.

This links to the article from March 27th, 2025, with Trump saying it was so nice of a reporter to be wearing a mask.

There's a video of him on this page.

/1 QR Code to https://web.archive.org/web/20250327191931/https://www.mediaite.com/news/trump-singles-out-reporter-for-wearing-mask-in-oval-office-you-feel-more-comfortable-right/
President Donald Trump stopped answering San Francisco Chronicle Washington correspondent Shira Stein, @shiramstein, to comment on her wearing a COVID mask in the Oval Office, remarking, “You’re wearing a mask! So nice of you!” SHIRA STEIN: Mr. President, you said you want to return education control to the states, how would you handle it if a state like California were to put in place education policies that you don’t agree with?  PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, I haven’t seen a mask in so long! You’re wearing a mask! So nice of you!  I haven’ seen anybody wearing a mask in a long time. It’s good. You feel more comfortable, right?  SHIRA STEIN: Yes.  PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Good. That’s good. So go ahead.  SHIRA STEIN: You said you want to return education control to the states. How would you handle it if a sta...
Our faces, our health.

And we choose to mask.

Ms. Stein was later singled out by Marjorie Taylor Greene in her for wearing a mask.

Very insulting, at first. But, after Ms. Stein pointed out she was immuncompromised (also having had a stroke, higher risk), she
Read 9 tweets
Apr 18
Trump is trying to distract from the economy. He just pumped out the Lab Leak from the official whitehouse.gov website.

Simultaneously making masking advocacy both more difficult and easier.

The Shrodinger Presidency. If only he had.... /+

whitehouse.gov/lab-leak-true-…
Of course I don't wish him dead in a box. That is against Twitter's TOS.

But, anyway, what do I mean? On the one hand, pointing out that Covid is probably a bioweapon means that you can point out the silliness of not protecting yourself against it.

On the other hand, this: Image
Which, of course, is silly as workers in BSL2-4 labs wear N95s and better to protect against bioweapons.

Heh. I can tell an antimasker wrote that because they screwed up the logic on it.

Mask mandates do NOT equate masks.
Read 6 tweets
Apr 2
@TheAtlantic @danengber Heh - I suspect Mr. Engber has been eavesdropping on my (and my fellow Covid Conscious) swimming safer threads. I have a new solution for showering safer for that I will be rolling out tomorrow.

For future articles by those who will come along, let me point out a few things /+
@TheAtlantic @danengber Thank you very much for pointing out that 4% of America is still masking 100% of the time! That is 13.2 million Americans.

The Masking Nation is larger than 38 states. :)

But, 18% of us masking some of the time in the SAME PEW POLL (tch tch). You would think that would be/+ At a basic level, their COVID-conscious attitudes may not be so far from the mainstream. Twenty-one percent of Americans still think of the disease as “a major threat” to public health, according to a recent poll from Pew Research Center. Thirty-nine percent say we’re not “taking it seriously enough.” But if 50 million to 100 million adults harbor such concerns, very few are doing much about them. Masking rates were once as high as 88 percent; now they’re close to nil. For those who still maintain their masking habit—4 percent, says Pew—the whiplash in social norms has been a shock.
@TheAtlantic @danengber be mentioned, @TaylorLorenz, by Mr. Engber, since 18% lines up pretty closely to the 21% still worried that Covid is a big deal (it is) - that he mentioned.

And suddenly, Masking Nation has 59.4 million residents. We are the largest state. Canada /+

Read 14 tweets
Mar 22
This may be one of the most important studies in a decade.

#LongCovidBinder.

"The models produced correctly classified those with severe ME/CFS from recovered controls with an accuracy of 97%, sensitivity of 94%, and specificity of 100%. "

THAT IS HUGE.
"We found that at Stage 1, those fated to develop ME/CFS 6 months following IM had low levels of IL-5 and IL-13 [25]. " We found that at Stage 1, those fated to develop ME/CFS 6 months following IM had low levels of IL-5 and IL-13 [25]. IL-5 enhances the production of B1 cells which are anti-inflammatory (impaired B1 cells have been found in multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis), and IL-13 has anti-inflammatory properties. Jason et al. [26] also found that students who failed to recover from IM had more restricted, inflexible cytokine networks whereas those who recovered had more flexible, less interconnected networks. Network analysis suggests that IL-5 and IL-13 influe...
So, this means ME/CFS can be predicted.

And what can be predicted - treatments can be found.

And they are studying LongCovid as well.

This study is easy to read, And everyone should.

/+

mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4…
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(