Amid outbreak of monkeypox virus a news went viral claiming 2 cases were detected in Lahore, Pakistan. The post got the attention of many and was shared multiple times across social media platforms in Pakistan. 

(Screenshot from Facebook post)

Debunked Source

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=monkey%20pox%20lahore

https://www.facebook.com/pakspectrum/posts/2080292532150973

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1407373489692979&id=100012610232751

https://www.facebook.com/kousar.momin/posts/4829058697205812

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2493902577408042&id=1444069805724663

Fact Check

In order to check the claim, we searched for keywords “nih pakistan monkeypox”. NIH is the National Institutes of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan. The institute is an autonomous body of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, mainly responsible for biomedical and health related research along with vaccine manufacturing.

Keyword search revealed that Pakistan has not reported monkeypox virus yet.

(Screenshot from Google search)

NIH also denied the rumors of detected cases on their official twitter account.

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

Source

https://www.dawn.com/news/1691293

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Islamabad clarifies that NO case of Monkeypox, has yet been diagnosed in Pakistan. The news circulating on social media about monkeypox cases is incorrect.
The situation is being closely monitored by the health authorities.#monkeypox

— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) May 24, 2022

Rating

Disinformation

Conclusion

Our fact-check confirmed that the pictures shared are not of monkeypox virus, they were shared in a false context, spreading fear among the general public. 

ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis 

Actor	Independent accounts on Facebook and pages are involved in spreading disinformation on social media.
Behavior	The false news of the first case of monkeypox was reported in Pakistan.
Content	Social media posts.
Degree	The content is being spread to misinform people; the target audience of the news was the general public of Pakistan and misinformation was mainly spread on Facebook.
Effect	The National Institute of Health has confirmed that no case is reported in Pakistan yet. The news is being circulated to mislead the masses and create panic.