Mpox epidemic disinformation debunked

An mpox outbreak spreading across several African countries, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has called a global emergency, has caused a spike in online disinformation about the viral disease.

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In a video circulated on X and Facebook, Wolfgang Wodarg, a German doctor known for his anti-vaccine views, claimed that mpox and shingles shared the same symptoms.

The physician also accused the pharmaceutical industry of frightening people to make a profit.

This is false. Mpox is not a shingles epidemic caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

Much is already known about the virus and the means to control it. Mpox, which was first detected in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), long predates COVID vaccines.

The disease, which is caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals but passed from human to human through close physical contact, belongs to the family of poxviruses – whereas shingles is a kind of herpes.

Symptoms also differ, with shingles causing smaller, painful lesions and rashes.