Canadian outlet CTV News did not publish an article stating that 95% of suspected cases of monkeypox in Canada were diagnosed as shingles. No such headline was published by CTV News and an image shared on social media is digitally altered.
The CTV News logo can be seen at the top of a screenshot shared on social media, while a headline reads: “Health officials investigating two dozen suspected cases of monkeypox across Canada found that 95% cases are shingles”.
A sub-heading reads: “Outbreaks of monkey pox [sic], which new study shows to be shingles in recent lab tests, have some experts linking new findings to Antibody-dependent Enhancement and COVID vaccines. Canadian health officials will hold conference with WHO to review Pfizer vaccine side effects and ADE”.
One user who shared the image on Twitter on May 23, 2022, said: “Confirmed that 95% of Monkeypox cases are really shingles in Canada. See what being ahead of the information curve does? We foil their plans before they can get their agenda out the door” ( here ).
The tweet attracted more than 2,400 likes and over 1,800 shares at the time of writing. An archived version of the tweet can be seen ( archive.ph/wip/oG8vy ).
Another user who shared the image on Facebook said: “When I have heard headline about monkeypox, my thought what the heck? In North America? A misdiagnosis of extreme shingles . . . this I can buy” ( here ).
Other examples of the headline shared on social media can be seen ( here ), ( here ), and ( here ).
A search on the CTV News website did not reveal any such headline published by the outlet ( bit.ly/3LydRsh ). A Google advanced search didn’t reveal the headline published by any news outlet ( archive.ph/wip/gYmV6 ).
A Twitter advanced search similarly did not reveal the article shared via the outlet’s Twitter account (@CTVNews) ( archive.ph/wip/uouhu ).
CTV News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, monkeypox is a distinct disease from shingles, Prof. Seth Blumberg, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters.
“Monkeypox is a primary infection caused by contact with a person or animal with active disease. Shingles is reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. Both diseases cause a rash with small blisters. However, shingles tends to affect one narrow strip of the skin on just one side of the body, whereas monkeypox can affect the entire body,” Prof Blumberg said ( here ), ( here ).
“The known risk factors of monkeypox are mostly related to exposure to infected people or animals, whereas the risk factors for shingles are older age, and immunosuppression. Both diseases can make people feel miserable, but monkeypox tends to have more complications (including a relatively small number of deaths) in otherwise healthy individuals,” he added.
The image is an example of ‘imposter content’ which is content such as an image or video which mimics a legitimate organization to support a false claim or narrative ( here ).
Reuters has previously addressed imposter content shared by social media users ( here ), ( here ), ( here ).
VERDICT
Altered. Canadian media outlet CTV News did not publish a headline reporting that 95% of suspected monkeypox cases detected in the country were cases of shingles. The image is digitally altered and is an example of imposter content.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.