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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

My article about Christian Frei’s new film, ‘Blame: bats, politics and a world out of balance’, is now free to view online, thanks to The Observer and its new owner, Tortoise Media.

https://observer.co.uk/culture/article/blame-bats-film-covid-review

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Dr Mike Hunter's avatar

It is just a matter of time before we get the next pandemic!

Thanks for your article.

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Miss AJ's avatar

WHY are we talking about this WHILE ignoring long covid? Put your energy in helping, not looking back.

Sincerely,

Someone with Long Covid

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

I have written about Long Covid elsewhere, including in The Lancet This was at the beginning of the pandemic. When I have time, I will update it.

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)32134-6/fulltext

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M Gazelle's avatar

Thank you for a voice of reason.

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Frank D’Elia's avatar

Very good, measured synopsis of the “debate” around the origin of SARS CoV-2. The journal mBIO published an editorial that considered the various claims for lab versus natural origin hypotheses and the evidence or lack thereof for each here

https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00583-23 ( alternate link:

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.00583-23)

and came to the same conclusion as you. You may find it useful.

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

Useful references, thank you

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Aron Sperber's avatar

"As with coronaviruses, cross-species transmissions of simian viruses happen all the time but most end in dead ends. However, molecular clock analysis suggests that HIV-1, which is the principal cause of AIDS, dates to 1921 when a chimpanzee infected a bush meat hunter somewhere in Cameroon. However, it was only when the virus reached a major city and was amplified by medical practices, such as the sharing of hypodermic needles, and the sex trade, that it began to spread more widely."

How could a Virus that can only be transmitted through sex or blood products reach Congo from the forests of Cameroon?

Why was it extremely sporadic till the early 80s if it was present in Kinshasa for 50 years, where there was sharing of needles and sex trade?

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

The clue is in the last sentence where I talk about medical practices such as vaccination and the sex trade. The other factors were the construction of new roads and the Fer Congo-Ocean railroad connecting Brazzaville to Leopoldville and the disruption of social relations during the colonial period.

have a chapter on what we know about the origin and spread of HIV in my book, The Pandemic Century, available on line and in booksellers. Read it and

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Aron Sperber's avatar

As you mentioned in your article the ebola virus was identfied in remote congolese villages in the 1970s. Don't you think it is strange that no one noticed the AIDS disease in Congo before 1983, if it was present in the big city of Kinshasa with big hospitals (compared to the remote villages where Ebola was found)?

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

Not when you consider that it takes around 10 years for the symptoms of AIDS to become manifest, and most early cases would have gone undiagnosed or been mistake for other diseases.

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Aron Sperber's avatar

I don't know how AIDS started, but I know that that from 1978-1980 a hepatitis b vaccine trial in 1083 homosexual men took place and the vaccine was made from carrier plasma (homeosexual men, but according to the 1978 patent probably also chimpanzees) and I know that very view people know about these facts, because all critical questions were labeled and shut down as "Russian conspiracy theory" (that really existed) successfully.

https://aron2201sperber.wordpress.com/2025/04/13/i-asked-grok-about-this-foto/

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Aron Sperber's avatar

In the 1980s AIDS developped much faster after an infection. The 10 years period is new. Probably less aggressive variants are more common now as it happened with the Omicron-variant, that ended the Covid-pandemic.

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Aron Sperber's avatar

Brazzaville was never connected to Leopoldville by road. You still need a boat today.

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

My mistake. I meant to write: from Brazzaville to Point Noir. The Belgian-Congo railway runs from Leopoldville on the opposite side of the river

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Aron Sperber's avatar

The Stone Age has not only ended for humans, but also for viruses. Why would a virus infect people using only the traditional Stone Age methods when new, more modern opportunities are available?

https://aronsperber.substack.com/p/do-viruses-remain-in-the-stone-age

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Debra Irvine's avatar

Informative and easy to read. Great work!

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Mark Honigsbaum's avatar

Thank you. I appreciate your feedback. Please share and tell your friends

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