(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A freelance science reporter for several left-wing outlets made an awkward typographical mistake in a tweet as he attempted to fact check misinformation about the recent monkeypox outbreak, Red State reported.
This is misinformation about #monkeypox. The outbreak is occurring almost entirely among men who have sex with me. Public health experts agree that sexual contact is the principle driver of transmission and have asserted that risk to kids remains *very low*.
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) July 20, 2022
After the World Health Organization met this week to discuss whether to declare the monkeypox outbreak a “global health emergency,” flashbacks to the early days of the coronavirus panic had many bracing for the worst.
Unlike COVID the monkeypox virus is mostly non-lethal, with vaccines readily available, and thus far has been spread largely through sexual contact among gay men.
According to Ars Technica, however, at least one recent case was linked to a child younger than 10 in the Netherlands.
Fearmongers wasted little opportunity spreading hysteria about the possibility of spillover cases that could, once again, shut down the global economy.
With another round of U.S. elections looming in November, and Republicans likely to retake Congress, some suggested the disease could tear through the nation—especially as students return to school in the fall.
OK what’s going on here? pic.twitter.com/GmpwjAXQb4
— James Lim, MD (@JLimHospMD) July 20, 2022
But Benjamin Ryan—an independent journalist specializing in science issues who has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic and a litany of other prestigious left-leaning outlets—stepped in to clarify that there was no credible threat to the population at large.
Unfortunately, his omission of a single letter turned the serious fact-check into a viral meme for all the wrong reasons.
“This is misinformation about #Monkeypox. The outbreak is occurring almost entire among men who have sex with me,” he wrote [emphasis added], apparently meaning to type “men” instead.
“Public health experts agree that sexual contact is the principle driver of transmission and have asserted that risk to kids remains *very low*,” he concluded.
Ryan—whose online biography suggests that he himself is a member of the LGBT community, recovered from his gaff by making a joke at his own expense after the mistake was pointed out.
Sorry everybody about the #monkeypox outbreak! I’ll do better next time.🤷♂️
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) July 21, 2022
“Sorry everybody about the #Monkeypox outbreak! I’ll do better next time,” he wrote.
He also retweeted statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that signaled either a very low threshold for a global health crisis or a very impressive body count of sexual conquests, depending on its interpretation.
15,378 as of today, according to the CDC. pic.twitter.com/wae23PA0bo
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) July 21, 2022
The monkeypox issue has started to become contentious, especially for those on the Left.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, recently attacked the Biden Administration for its failure to provide his state with enough monkeypox vaccines, suggesting that it was due to anti-gay bigotry.
“We need to be very clear where the responsibility lies for this completely avoidable situation: the federal government,” Wiener said in a statement, according to Breitbart. “Failure to control this outbreak will result in intense—and completely unnecessary—misery for many people, particularly gay and bisexual men.”
