Fact Check: Fake news graphics on Monkeypox guidelines attributed to WHO viral on social media

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A news graphic, making some bizarre claims about Monkeypox disease, is going viral on social media. The template, created in the name of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), attributed the guidelines to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the Monkeypox disease. 

However, Vishvas News in its investigation found the claim to be false. No such guidelines have been issued by the WHO or BBC and the claims have been refuted by eminent doctors in India.

Claim: 

Facebook user ‘Cynthia Oldham’ posted a BBC news graphic of WHO guidelines on Monkeypox disease. Her post read: “Lord they r trying to hide us.” 

The archive of the Facebook post can be found here.

Investigation

Vishvas News explored the fact checking We Verify InVID tool and performed Google Reverse Image Search to know the truth. We found the same BBC news graphic shared by another Facebook user. This news graphic also classified Monkeypox to be airborne, a form of herpes and a disease that can lead to paralysis.

However, we failed to find any such news graphic on BBC news website and its Twitter account.

No information regarding the same was found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, which stated, “Monkeypox can spread from person to person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex. Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. Anyone in close personal contact with a person with monkeypox can get it and should take steps to protect themselves.”

No evidence related to the template was found on WHO website. But to get further confirmation, Vishvas News contacted World Health Organisation’s South East Asia Region Communications Officer Shamila Sharma. Speaking to us, she clarified, “This is incorrect information and falsely attributed to WHO”.

Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-Chairman National IMA COVID Task Force, also called the information “fake”. He is a Senior Consultant Gastroenterologist and former President of Indian Medical Association, Cochin.

Another renowned doctor, Prof. (Dr) Ashish Verma from Career Medical College Lucknow refuted all the claims mentioned in the news graphic one by one.

Notably, Monkeypox has spread, with 31800 cases reported worldwide and 9 in India, according to the CDC data.

Vishvas News also scanned the social profile of the user Cynthia Oldham, who shared the viral news graphic with a fake claim, and found her to be followed by more than two thousand people on Facebook.