Fact check: No, a misused photo of shingles does not prove monkeypox is a hoax

The claim: Post implies misused shingles photos prove monkeypox is a hoax

In May, as the rare monkeypox virus spread to countries where it’s not usually found, misinformation about the infectious disease began circulating widely online.

A May 21 Facebook post shows screenshots of two articles, which show the same photo of a hand with lesions on it. One is an article from the Department of Health in Queensland, Australia, about shingles, an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The other is a July 2021 article from a site called HealthSite that cites the picture while discussing monkeypox.

The caption reads, “Hmm....interesting...check out article date...”

The post was shared more than 450 times and gained new life online in recent weeks. Similar posts that many users interpreted as being proof monkeypox is a hoax have appeared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Many commenters took the post as proof that monkeypox was a hoax or otherwise part of a conspiracy theory rather than a legitimate health concern.

“Look in the dictators hand book for another Scamdemic (sic),” one comment read.

Another said, “They prefer to foreshadow and pre-plan all their big moves and rub it in our faces.”

But this isn't proof of anything aside from an errant picture choice. The HealthSite article cited in the post has since corrected the story to include a picture of monkeypox, as have other websites that errantly used the shingles picture for a time.

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USA TODAY reached out to HealthSite and the users who shared the claim for comment. The user who shared the pictures on Twitter said he was not implying that monkeypox was a hoax but instead was commenting on how “the work of the journalist who published it is sloppy.”

The articles featuring the misused photos have been updated

Monkeypox and shingles are two different, real diseases.

Monkeypox is a virus from the same family that causes smallpox and cowpox. Its symptoms are like smallpox, usually starting with a fever, headache and fatigue and later developing into raised bumps.

Shingles is caused by the same virus as chicken pox. According to the National Institute on Aging, about one in three people who had chicken pox will experience shingles, the reactivation of that virus. Its symptoms vary but include blisters, burning pain, tingling, itchiness and fever.

The HealthSite article about monkeypox that used the photo of shingles has been updated since the posts were made. The photo of shingles no longer appears on the page, and the article indicates it was updated with a different photo on May 23.

Another website, 247 News Around the World, republished the same article. It's not mentioned in the posts, but archived versions show it also misused the shingles photo and later changed it out for a different photo.

A physical assistant administers the monkeypox vaccine at a vaccinations site on Monday, Aug. 30, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
A physical assistant administers the monkeypox vaccine at a vaccinations site on Monday, Aug. 30, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

The event described in both articles precedes the current outbreak, which began in May. In July 2021,a person contracted monkeypox and was hospitalized after traveling from Nigeria to the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PolitiFact, an independent fact-checking outlet that also debunked this claim, reported that the photo of shingles has been used to correctly show what shingles looks like on other websites. AFP Fact Check also debunked a nearly identical claim.

From time to time, media outlets misidentify photos. This instance does not prove that monkeypox is a hoax. Although scientists are still researching its origins and how it spreads, there is plenty of documentation of its existence from official sources.

Fact check: Monkeypox is not a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts say

The World Health Organization, CDC, medical libraries and news outlets have detailedthe virus’ history, transmission and prevention mechanisms.

Our rating: Missing context

We rate MISSING CONTEXT the implication that a misused shingles photo proves monkeypox is a hoax. Misidentifying a photo does not prove that monkeypox isn’t real. There is extensive documentation from multiple health agencies and credible news outlets about its existence.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Misused shingles photo fuels monkeypox conspiracy theories