Here’s one that you’re unlikely to see covered in the dance music press – at least until they’ve worked out how to apply the best possible spin to the story. As you might have noticed on the news, there’s been an outbreak of monkeypox in many European countries over the past few weeks.

Scientists are unsure exactly what has caused the outbreak, but seem fairly sure that it can be contained and controlled pretty quickly. This, of course, hasn’t stopped the media from going into panic mode, with pictures of nasty looking boils and blisters – although some have managed not to lose their heads over this.

So what’s brought this virus, normally only seen in central and western Africa, to Europe? The World Health Organisation are convinced sex is the reason. The theory goes that as people have started to mix more again as pandemic restrictions have eased off, some have been getting a little frisky in the process – even though monkeypox is not an STD.

But in life, the biggest truths often come from those who used to be in an organisation, but are now outside it – meaning they’re no longer confined by internal politics. Which is why the comments by Dr David Heymann – who used to run the WHO’s emergencies department, no less – that monkeypox was the result of sexual encounters at two European raves have certainly piqued our interest.

Now, we’re not infectious disease epidemiologists here at Ears To The House – we’re in no position to comment on how accurate this claim is, although it does sound plausible. Just don’t expect the dance music press to tell you about it…