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The screenshot of an article, purportedly from Irish news publication TheJournal.ie, has gone viral on the internet with a headline, "Monkeypox can live on door handles and toilet seats for 120 years and can infect anyone from 5 miles away."
However, we found that not only was the screenshot fake, but the claims made in the post were also false. The publication has clarified that it never published such an article on monkeypox.
We could also not find any research to back the claim that an infected person can spread the virus from five miles away.
A version of the viral image carried a sub-header that hinted that the post may have been sarcastic.
The viral screenshot was shared by several people, most of whom didn't use a caption or just used an emoticon as caption.
In the second iteration of the post, a sub-header was seen, and it read, "Without wishing to sound alarmist it's certainly time to panic now." The quote was attributed to "a UCD expert with a degree in Journalism but who once read a really good book on virology," making it sound like it was a satire or parody.
We checked the website and social media handles of the Irish publication and were not able to find such an article on the website.
We also conducted a keyword search on Google for the headline and could not find a news article with the headline either.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus. A person infected by the virus experiences rashes and flu-like symptoms. Like the virus responsible for smallpox, the monkeypox virus is also classified as orthopoxvirus.
The CDC also mentioned that people can get infected by monkeypox by coming in direct or indirect contact with materials (clothing, bedding, and other linens used by an infected person) contaminated with the virus.
Separate research from Germany also found that surfaces around an infected person in an isolated room have a significant viral load. But none of the studies said the virus would stay active for 120 years.
Rachel Roper, a virologist at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, told Nature Scientific Journal that unlike SARS-CoV-2, poxviruses survive outside the human body for a longer time.
We also conducted a keyword search but could not find any research or study to prove that an infected person can spread the virus from five miles away.
Evidently, the claim that monkeypox viruses survive on door handles and toilet seat covers for 120 years and can spread from five miles away is not backed by any scientific evidence.
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