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An Update on Monkey Pox

In May 2022, the WHO reports cases of monkeypox in Europe for the first time. So far, the disease has mainly occurred in Central Africa. It quickly becomes clear that 99 percent of those infected are men who have sex with men. While the gay community celebrates Pride Month and hundreds of thousands of gay men demonstrate for their rights at Christopher Street Day in Berlin, the number of cases is rising rapidly in Europe and North America. At the same time, a dispute is breaking out among health authorities about how to assess the outbreak and how it should be communicated publicly – initially, there is still talk of the “risk group of homosexual men.” Is a new wave of stigmatization looming here – similar to the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic 40 years ago?


Bastian Fährmann became infected a few weeks ago and experienced a severe course of the disease, the consequences of which he is still struggling with. But he was also lucky, because no disfiguring pockmarks remained that would have threatened his economic existence: Bastian is a successful model. He was one of the first people in Germany to go public with his story of the disease – he wants to warn the community not to take monkeypox lightly. Science journalist Kai Kupferschmidt agrees. He pleads for a clear but non-discriminatory approach to the community: “As long as there is not enough vaccine to protect us and others, it helps if we have less sex with changing partners.”

A film by Dominik Wessely

Camera Ralf Klingelhöfer, Sebastian Weis, Sven Klöpper

Editor Gabriele Biasizzo

Producer Nele Huff
Executive Producer Antje Boehmert
Commissioning Editor Miriam Carbe

A production of DOCDAYS Productions for ZDF/ARTE

Length: 32 min
Release Date: 2022

In May 2022, the WHO reports cases of monkeypox in Europe for the first time. So far, the disease has mainly occurred in Central Africa. It quickly becomes clear that 99 percent of those infected are men who have sex with men. While the gay community celebrates Pride Month and hundreds of thousands of gay men demonstrate for their rights at Christopher Street Day in Berlin, the number of cases is rising rapidly in Europe and North America. At the same time, a dispute is breaking out among health authorities about how to assess the outbreak and how it should be communicated publicly – initially, there is still talk of the “risk group of homosexual men.” Is a new wave of stigmatization looming here – similar to the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic 40 years ago?


Bastian Fährmann became infected a few weeks ago and experienced a severe course of the disease, the consequences of which he is still struggling with. But he was also lucky, because no disfiguring pockmarks remained that would have threatened his economic existence: Bastian is a successful model. He was one of the first people in Germany to go public with his story of the disease – he wants to warn the community not to take monkeypox lightly. Science journalist Kai Kupferschmidt agrees. He pleads for a clear but non-discriminatory approach to the community: “As long as there is not enough vaccine to protect us and others, it helps if we have less sex with changing partners.”

A film by Dominik Wessely

Camera Ralf Klingelhöfer, Sebastian Weis, Sven Klöpper

Editor Gabriele Biasizzo

Producer Nele Huff
Executive Producer Antje Boehmert
Commissioning Editor Miriam Carbe

A production of DOCDAYS Productions for ZDF/ARTE

Length: 32 min
Release Date: 2022