IN SHORT: Kenya's health ministry has confirmed two mpox cases, but there are no plans to close schools, which have just reopened after mid-2024 holidays. Citizen Digital also confirmed it did not report this
A graphic circulating on Facebook in Kenya claims that the government will close all public schools due to an outbreak of mpox.
The graphic, dated 21 August 2024, shows the logo and branding of Citizen Digital, the online news platform of Royal Media Services, one of Kenya's leading media companies.
Mpox is a viral infection caused by the monkeypox virus. It is spread mainly by close contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces and, in some areas, by contact with infected animals.
Kenya's health minister, Deborah Barasa, confirmed that the country's first case of mpox was reported on 31 July – a 42-year-old truck driver who recovered after treatment. The second case, another truck driver from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was detected in August at the Malaba border between Kenya and Uganda. He is in isolation at time of publication.
Although Kenya has no licensed vaccines for mpox, the World Health Organization has urged countries with outbreaks to prepare for vaccination efforts targeting high-risk individuals.
Groups at increased risk of mpox include infants and young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and severely immunocompromised persons. Confirmed cases should isolate until their rashes have healed completely.
During the Covid pandemic, schools in Kenya were closed for months, disrupting education and widening learning gaps, especially for disadvantaged students. Limited access to technology and the internet further hampered online learning efforts.
This graphic has been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances of the claim at the end of this report.)
But Citizen Digital really report that schools in Kenya would be closed again because of mpox?
Fake graphic
The text of the graphic, which was circulating from late August, reads: “Govt to shut down all public schools over mpox.” This implies it is yet to happen. But public schools closed for holidays on 2 August and were set to reopen on 26 August.
The Kenyan media reported a chaotic reopening of schools on 27 August– but this was because some teachers were on strike, not because of mpox.
There has been no official order from the ministry of education to close schools. Such news would be widely reported, but Africa Check found nothing related to mpox.
We also contacted Citizen Digital via WhatsApp to verify the legitimacy of the graphic in question and found that it had been flagged as “fake”.
Citizen Digital confirmed that they did not report anything like this.
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