A flight attendant who is quarantining in Florida claims he caught monkeypox from a dirty hotel or airplane, not through sexual or other intimate relations with another person. It’s a concerning allegation as monkeypox cases explode in the United States.
Flight Attendant With Monkeypox Speculates About How He Got It
The flight attendant, who goes by Josh Jones on TikTok, flies for a U.S. airline (which he does not name) and developed skin lesions during a work trip in Florida. He visited the emergency room, was tested, and the testing confirmed that he had monkeypox, though the spread of lesions over his body made that clear before the results even arrived.
@ava__monet Monkey pox as a working flight attendant #monkeypox #flightattendant #hotel #fyp #letsgoinsane ♬ original sound – Ava Monet Josh Jones
Per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, he is quarantining for three weeks in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel. His company is paying for his hotel and giving him $50/day in GrubHub credit. Jones complains of headaches and fears the scabs might scar when falling off, but after six days is sleeping well once again. He is not in any danger of death.
The CDC has warned that monkeypox is primarily spread via men having sex with men in the USA. However Jones, who is gay, denies that is how he contacted monkeypox. Answering question from viewers, he asserted:
“No, I have been in contact with someone or had sex or whatever like you guys think because flight attendants are apparently horrors. I know I’ve gotten it on the plane or at a dirty hotel or another crew member may have had it or come into contact with me.”
The CDC states that monkeypox can spread through direct contact or by touching objects, including fabrics and surfaces, used by someone who is infected.
@ava__monet Day 6 with monkey pox #flightattendant #monkeypox #fyp ♬ original sound – Ava Monet Josh Jones
Folks, I’m not trying to fear monger at all. But this is a pretty explosive allegation as we seek to learn more about this virus. It’s one thing for a virus to be spread via sexual contact or even coming into close contact with a symptomatic person (with visible lesions), but it’s quite a concern that this flight attendant claims he was in contact with no one who was visibly infected nor did he copulate recently.
As with COVID-19, there reaches a point in which we just must live our lives, but I do hope this virus does not become so prevalent that we start second-guessing any sort of human to human contact (like a hug or handshake) or become paranoid about sitting down on an airplane or in a restaurant.
CONCLUSION
A flight attendant with monkeypox blames a dirty hotel room or aircraft for catching the virus. He’s now quarantining for three weeks and serves as another datapoint as we seek to learn more about monkeypox.