After health authorities reported an increase of a type of mpox, the virus formerly known as monkeypox, in several African countries, many social media users posted false or misleading claims about the virus, including that the mpox virus is airborne, the spread of the virus will lead to lockdowns and the disease is a side-effect of COVID-19 vaccines.
The World Health Organization declared on Aug. 14 that mpox is a public health emergency of international concern after a surge of clade I mpox in the Congo, and its appearance in nearby Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda — four countries that had not had mpox of any kind before. To date, there have been of clade I mpox in Canada.
Many social media users used the WHO declaration and the attention it received to post false claims around mpox. Here's a fact check of some of these claims.
Airborne transmission is unlikely
A now-deleted , formerly known as Twitter, claimed the mpox virus is airborne. The post contained images showing illustrations of viruses and said that "Monkeypox is airborne and can lead to serious issues/death and some people are already saying do not comply." The post had more than one million views and 3,100 likes before it was deleted.
claimed that "Mpox, short for Monkeypox, is believed to be airborne." A video of a news report on mpox's spread in Congo by Al Jazeera and a photo of the back of a person with lesions caused by mpox were attached with the post.
The post had 1.6 million views as of publication.
Rating: Missing context
The says there are two types of mpox, clade I and clade II, and both types can spread through direct close contact with infected people, including intimate or sexual contact, and through contact with contaminated materials and infected animals.
, in its advice for travellers, has said mpox can spread through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing, but it says this kind of spread is likely limited.
, an internal medicine specialist and epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, says the spread of mpox happens through direct and very prolonged skin-to-skin contact between people, or contact with contaminated surfaces.
He says mpox is transmitted differently than the COVID-19 virus, which can spread through the air through aerosols, which are very fine particles that can hang around in the air. COVID-19 can also spread through respiratory droplets that can be widely distributed when someone is coughing or sneezing.
"(Mpox) requires that kind of direct, close, personal contact, most often skin to skin or transmission of fluids, like sexual encounters, or, in the case of heavily infected surfaces, like bedding or other material within a household," he said.
"For the purposes of the public to consider this virus, it is not an airborne virus. It is possible that you can get … a droplet related exposure, but it's very, very rare for that to occur."
In Canada, is recommended for high-risk groups, including individuals who are members of the LGBTQ+ community who have a confirmed sexually transmitted infection, have or are planning to have two or more sexual partners, or have attended venues for sexual contact such as sex clubs.
Mpox spread will not lead to lockdowns
An claimed the World Health Organization has ordered governments to prepare for "mega lockdowns" due to the spread of mpox.
A photo of the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was attached to the post, which had more than 431,000 views and 4,000 shares as of publication.
An shared a screenshot of a headline saying, "WHO orders government to prepare for 'Mega Lockdowns' due to 'deadly monkeypox' strain." The image comes from the website the People's Voice, which ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø has fact-checked multipletimes and found it to be spreading false claims.
Rating: False
The is a United Nations agency that focuses on promoting health and co-ordinating the world’s response to health emergencies. The agency doesn't have a mandate to order government to prepare for lockdowns.
The WHO's to contain the mpox outbreak, released on Aug. 26, and the earlier for combating mpox, released on May 24, don't include implementing lockdowns or enforcing travel restrictions in countries with confirmed cases.
In the response plan, the emergency committee tasked with assessing the outbreak made eight temporary recommendations, supplementing existing , that addressed topics such as enhanced surveillance and laboratory diagnostics, risk communication and community engagement, and the flow of international traffic. The committee recommended that governments "provide information to travelers and conveyance operators without imposing general travel and trade restrictions that could unnecessarily impact local, regional, or national economies."
Dr. Razak says lockdowns are extremely unlikely in the case of mpox because it can be contained using other public health measures.
"The risk of mpox spread in a high income country like the United States or in Canada is very limited, because it can be tightly controlled through the exposure routes, which is behavioural control, counselling, education, and especially focus on high risk groups, and, of course, the use of vaccines," he says.
Mpox is not a side-effect of COVID-19 vaccine
An claimed mpox is an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. The post included a screenshot of a study that talks about a blistering skin disease that can be an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
The post had more than 281,000 views and 4,300 shares as of publication.
Another shared an image of text claiming that mpox is a coverup of damage done by COVID-19 vaccination "resulting in shingles, autoimmune blistering disease (and) herpes infection."
The post had more than 211,000 views and 3,300 shares as of publication.
Rating: False
Mpox is not related to autoimmune blistering skin diseases or shingles, and the first human case of mpox was , long before mRNA vaccines existed.
The mentioned in the first X post, published last year and titled Autoimmune Blistering Skin Diseases Triggered by COVID-19 Vaccinations: An Australian Case Series, doesn't mention mpox. It focuses on autoimmune blistering skin diseases and their possible link to COVID-19 vaccination.
Dr. Razak says claiming a link between COVID-19 vaccines and mpox, or claiming that mpox is shingles, is "categorically false" as the mpox virus is much older than the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
"The mRNA vaccines for COVID were developed in response to the emergence of the virus in 2019, and the mRNA vaccines were only first available in 2020. This virus, mpox, has existed for decades," he says.
"The (mpox) virus emerged well before we had an mRNA vaccine."
He says shingles, also known as herpes zoster virus, is a completely different virus than mpox.
"Herpes zoster virus is the virus that causes chickenpox in young kids and then in older individuals, or those who are immunocompromised, or sometimes in otherwise healthy adults," he says. "It can re-emerge in a pattern called shingles, but it is a fundamentally different virus than the mpox virus."
While a rash caused by mpox can be mistaken for shingles, there are differences in the symptoms and rash appearance, and a health-care provider can make a diagnosis through testing.
The skin rash, or lesions, caused by mpox are as firm or rubbery, well-circumscribed – meaning the lesion has clear and definite boundaries –deep-seated, and often develop "umbilication" – a depression in the lesion resembling a navel.
The CDC says lesions typically develop simultaneously and evolve together on any given part of the body, and the incubation period is three to 17 days. "During this time, a person does not have symptoms and may feel fine. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks."
The says shingles causes a painful, blistering rash that usually appears on one side of the body. For one to two days before the rash appears, a person might experience pain, burning or tingling on an area of skin where the rash will develop.
"Some people get more blisters after the rash appears, so it can seem that the rash is spreading," it says.
"As the rash clears, the blisters may crack open, bleed, and scab over. For most people, the rash will clear within 2 to 4 weeks."
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Airborne claim
Claim can be found in this archived X post and ()
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Lockdowns claim
Claim can be found on X () and on Facebook ()
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COVID-19 vaccine claim
Claims can be found on X () and ()
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