MONKEYPOX VIRUS LIVES on loo seats for over a century and can infect anyone within a five-mile radius according to an alarming report doing the rounds on social media.

The article’s headline claimed “Monkeypox can live on door handles and toilet seats for 120 years”.

According to the piece, the virus can also “infect anyone from 5 miles away” from contagious surfaces.

The interview source of the news story is listed as a “UCD expert with a degree in Journalism but who once read a really good book on virology”.

The post is a screen-grab of an article made up to look like it was written and published by The Journal. Except we didn’t.

While the image in the post has used the same masthead, mobile site banner, colour scheme, icons and view counter as The Journal’s legitimate site and app, this is not a real article.

Unlike genuine articles, this piece failed to capitalise the first three words of copy while the headline has clearly been added in using a different font, colour, kerning and size.

It seems to have been taken from this article published on 23 July headlined “Monkeypox declared global health emergency by World Health Organization”.

The real 23 July article which was published on our site.

The same microscopic photograph of the virus was used, but the article contained no mention of toilet seats or door handles being infectious for 120 years.

Susan Daly, Managing Editor with Journal Media, confirmed the image in this social media post had been manipulated.

“Neither The Journal nor any of our publications have ever published an article which includes that headline or content,” she said.

Articles purporting to be from Irish media outlets with outrageous claims have previously gone viral on social media.

Last January a headline under an Irish Examiner masthead went viral for claiming “Referee whistles may cause sudden increase in heart problems among sports players experts say”.

After contacting the paper’s editor, Reuters debunked that article as a fake.

Earlier this month a counterfeit Irish Independent article spread across social media claiming the dying words of an ICU patient were “I wish I’d taken more sun cream”.

Similar to the fake monkeypox article, the copy hinted at satire by purporting the 85-year old man “drove a diesel car, cut turf, ate steak and scoffed at climate change policies”.

The website Check Your Fact found the image to be “digitally fabricated” and concluded “there is no evidence to suggest the Irish Independent published such an article.

The Journal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.