(NewsNation) — U.S. health officials are coming under scrutiny for messaging on monkeypox after hashtags targeting the LGBTQ community began trending on Twitter this week.
Nearly 5,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said upwards of 99% of the cases are among men who have sex with men. However, monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease, and is spread by any close contact.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in an interview with the Washington Post on July 22 that two children have contracted the disease and that the cases were linked back to two men in the at-risk population. Soon after, #Groomer began trending on Twitter, a term implying that gay men were pedophiles.
Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communications Initiative, joined “NewsNation Tonight” on Thursday to explain how the CDC can more effectively communicate and educate the public on monkeypox.
