FACT CHECK: Monkeypox not yet detected in Zamboanga City

A message spreading on social media that there are at least three cases of monkeypox in Zamboanga City is fake news.

The post from an unnamed Twitter user has been circulated many times in messenger group chats. It did not cite any official source of information. 

As of August 12, the local government of Zamboanga City belied that monkeypox has been detected in the locality.

Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications, it added. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/monkeypox

The Zamboanga City Facebook page described the post as fake news.

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)

(This fact-check piece was produced with the support of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator Project.)