California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated

California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated

 

Matt Ford edits videos for a living, so it wasn't a stretch for him to put one together for TikTok. But his latest post wasn't a crazy dance or a video about how to peel a banana the right way. It's based on his own experience with monkeypox.   His video has been watched around 300,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon. He posted it to help educate people about the virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated and to make it very clear: "You do not want this."   Anyone can get monkeypox, but a "notable fraction" of cases in the global outbreak are among gay and bisexual men, according to the the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.    "I first became fully aware of it and noticed symptoms Friday, June 17," Ford told CNN from county-ordered isolation in his home in Los Angeles, where he will have to stay until he is no longer contagious.   He had hoped to go to Pride in New York. "But that was not in the cards," he said.   In the video, Ford talks about how the virus spreads, and shows some of his lesions.   Monkeypox spreads when someone has direct contact with a person's infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It can also spread through respiratory secretions during prolonged face to face contact or by touching items that previously came into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has been affected, according to the CDC.   In the video, Ford is plain spoken as he looks directly into camera and warns others. "Hi, my name is Matt. I have monkeypox, this sh*t sucks and you don't want it," Ford tells his viewers.   Giving a tour of some of his 25 lesions, he points to his face, his arms, and the spots on his abs. "These are really not cute," he says for emphasis.   While the disease is more commonly found in Central and West Africa, this current outbreak has hit countries that have seen few, if any, cases in the past.   Since Ford first told friends he's sick with monkeypox, others have let him know that they too have gotten sick.   Concerned that not enough people knew about it, Ford got the idea to do the TikTok video.   "It's become clear to me since I got it that it's spreading quickly," Ford said. "That's a big reason I'm trying to speak out and raise awareness about it." The Biden administration recently announced plans to offer more monkeypox vaccines and tests to people who are most at risk of catching the virus, including men who have sex with men and their partners.