To introduce this question, there is an ongoing lawsuit in NYC about the religous practice of "metzitzah b’peh".
From the city's info page about it:
Health Department investigations of newborns with herpes virus between 2000 –2011 have shown that 11 infants contracted the herpes virus when mohelim, or ritual circumcisers, placed their mouths directly on the child’s circumcision wound to draw blood away from the circumcision cut. Ten of these infants were hospitalized, at least two developed brain damage, and two babies died.
From the city's official guide to MBP:
Between 2004 and 2011, the Department learned of 11 cases of laboratory-confirmed herpes simplex virus infections in male infants following circumcisions that were likely to have had direct oral suction. Ten of these infants were hospitalized, at least two developed brain damage, and two babies died.
And from an article supporting the plantiffs:
Notably, the Health Department’s conclusion that MBP carries significant risk of dangerous infection is not at all supported by the evidence. In the plaintiffs’ court papers challenging the regulation, a number of distinguished experts strongly challenge the validity of the City’s position. As Dr. Daniel S. Berman, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the New York Westchester Square Hospital, states in his legal affidavit, “In my professional opinion, the evidence does not show that MBP has ever resulted in transmission of HSV-1.”
From another article supporting the plantiffs:
But the facts are indisputable. “No case of neonatal herpes anywhere in the world has ever been proved, through definitive DNA fingerprinting, to have resulted from metzitzah b’peh,”the plaintiff brief attests.
My question is simple; is there a health risk from MBP, given the available evidence, or not? Are the facts "disputable" (which is a moot point. They clearly are, at least by NYC and the CDC).
Edit: here's a Google search that has all the relevant links from NYC's website:https://www.google.com/search?q=site:nyc.gov+mbp+hsv-1 (I don't want to track down all the links.)
Edit: I just wanted to add two more links, one in defence of MBP, and the paper referred to in an answer.