For all the innocent CR readers, ALL Herpes Viruses are now able to be transferred from any part of the body, for reasons which are not appropriate for discussion. We cannot be careless about this. At least one baby has died following his bris. Perhaps there are more, but one is one too many. There was no question, from what I read about this tragedy, that the mohel had active lesions at his mouth. Would any responsible parent want to take the chance of having ANY mohel with a history of cold sores, do MBP on a newborn? Get another mohel.
I will not argue the Halacha here. There are heterim for using the pipette, and many mohelim now do so. But if someone adamantly wants to follow the tradition of the MBP, then EVERY precaution must be taken, and a back up plan must be in place if there is anything questionable about the mohel’s oral health.