Monkeypox: Ignore the misinformation on social media. Here are the key things you need to know

Some worrying claims have been made on social media about monkeypox — unsurprisingly, perhaps, in this age of fake news, and coming on top of an explosion of online misinformation about Covid-19.

This latest “breakout” virus, which was named after the first animal to show symptoms, was discovered in 1958. It is a rare infection that hitherto had been mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west and central Africa. The World Health Organisation declared the current monkeypox outbreak a public-health emergency last month, having reported more than 32,000 cases from more than 80 countries. The global outbreak is primarily among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

Here are factual answers to some of the concerns and questions that have emerged online.

Can you catch the virus from bedding or clothes?

Monkeypox lingers on contaminated items, such as an infected person’s clothes or bedding. But that doesn’t mean someone else will catch it. If this virus were easily spread through surface-based transmission, we would have seen a much larger outbreak of disease.

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Many viruses transmit through the air. Is this the case with monkeypox?

According to the WHO, transmission through respiratory particles “usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact”. However, “if people were getting monkeypox ... by inhaling it and breathing it in, then we would see a lot of people who are not men who have sex with men contracting monkeypox”, a Canadian expert told CBC News.

What is the latest transmission information for Europe?

Cases remain primarily among men who have sex with men between the ages of 18 and 50. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s latest risk assessment, the likelihood of monkeypox spreading further in networks of people with multiple sexual partners is “considered high” while the chance of it spreading into the broader population is “assessed as very low”.

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Is it true that the WHO has asked for public help to rename monkeypox?

Yes, the organisation says it’s important we find a new name for the disease, as it is best practice not to single out an ethical group, region, country or animal.

Have any interesting names emerged in response?

They certainly have. Poxy McPoxFace was suggested in an allusion to Boaty McBoatface, the equally jokey public choice for the name of a British polar-research vessel.

Another proposal, Trump-22, appears to refer to the former US president, but its creator says the name has scientific merit, as it stands for Toxic Rash of Unrecognised Mysterious Provenance of 2022.