Tough News: First Clade 1b Mpox Case Seen, In A 22 Year Old Traveler Returning Home -- To Azerbaijan...

It is particularly annoying that this news comes a day after Kennedy Jr. testified that six weeks into the COVID-19 vaccine roll out -- he did his level best to stop that vaccine program. [Ahem. It saved perhaps 10 million lives, compared to the Spanish Flu of 1918.]

Dammit, man. Wake up. Every day, all across the globe, we are seeing the benefit of mRNA vaccines, like the Mpox one -- and the Marburg one and the previous (live, attenuated) Smallpox, Rubella and Polio vaccines. Just. Damn. And yes -- I blame Tangerine 2.0, for making this joker relevant -- in any serious discussion.

In any event, here is the latest, on what I think is about the 25^th nation outside of Africa to see an Mpox Clade 1b case, this time around:

. . .A case of mpox has been found in Azerbaijan, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, adding that the patient had been isolated and was receiving treatment in hospital.

Interfax quoted Azerbaijan's Ministry of Health and Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB) as saying the patient was a 22-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan who had been on a tourist trip abroad from Jan. 2-11. . . .

Onward -- hopefully to a meaningful MLK Day 2025 -- and, nope. . . the inaugural will not be broadcast in my home. Not a chance. I'll listen to the classic Brock Peters narration of a three hour audio feed of. . . the great man's life and times. Get it -- on NPR -- wherever you are. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते