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** Another Mpox Public Health Emergency
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On Aug. 14, the World Health Organization declared mpox — a disease caused by the monkeypox virus — a public health emergency of international concern for the second time in the last three years.

As FactCheck.org Staff Writer Kate Yandell writes, mpox -- which has been known to infect people in parts of Africa for decades -- began to spread around the world in 2022, causing the WHO and the U.S. to declare public health emergencies. Once cases outside Africa began to fall, the WHO and U.S. last year declared the health emergencies over.

But mpox cases are surging again, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- this time primarily from two other types, or clades, of the virus known as clade Ia and clade Ib. That means there are now three different outbreaks of mpox: two centered in Congo and the ongoing global outbreak that was recognized in 2022.

As of late August, there have been more than 20,000 mpox cases and more than 600 deaths reported in Africa in 2024, although not all are confirmed cases, given a dearth of access to testing. This compares with around 15,000 reported cases in 2023.

One type of the virus -- clade Ib -- has now spread to countries in Africa where mpox has not been historically reported. Sweden and Thailand have also each reported one imported case.

In her Q&A, Kate explains how people can prevent and treat mpox, why clade I mpox is on the rise now, and whether clade I mpox poses a global threat.

For more, read "Q&A on the Second International Mpox Emergency. ([link removed]) "
HOW WE KNOW
For her article on the mpox outbreaks, Kate Yandell interviewed several experts -- including Jason Kindrachuk, who studies the circulation and transmission of emerging animal-derived viruses at the University of Manitoba, and Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician who formerly worked for the WHO on its mpox team.
FEATURED FACT
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been tracking the Black unemployment rate since 1972. Despite the immediate and lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average monthly Black unemployment rates during the Trump (7.9%) and Biden (6.5%) administrations were below the historical average of 11.4%, dating to January 1972. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
KTVN in Reno, Nevada, a CBS affiliate, cited our work in its fact-checking articles on TV ads in the Nevada Senate race.

In a segment the station calls "Reality Check," KTVN reporter Josh Meny ([link removed]) found TV ads supporting both candidates -- Sen. Jacky Rosen and her Republican challenger, Sam Brown -- were misleading.

Meny found ([link removed]) that a super PAC supporting Brown misleadingly claimed Rosen voted to give "tax dollars to undocumented immigrants," citing one of our articles from three years ago ([link removed]) on the COVID-19 relief bills that provided stimulus checks to Americans.

He also did a "Reality Check" segment ([link removed]) on a Rosen campaign TV ad that misleadingly claimed Brown "advocated for the phasing out of Medicare and Social Security." We wrote about ([link removed]) that TV ad last month.
REPLY ALL

Reader: Can this statement be true?

"Last year I had a retirement account go from around 70k to 110k. 40k gain and I didn't touch it. But under her plan I would have to pay 25% taxes on the 40k even though I just let it sit. So I pay 10k in taxes on that increase. Today I got a statement and my retirement account lost over 50k. It is less than what I had at the start of last year. I do not get a refund on the 10k in taxes I paid. So now it's at 60k. If it goes up a year later to the 110k l was at now I pay taxes on 50k unrealized gains. So I pay another 12.5k in taxes. 22.5k in potential tax liability for me without drawing a dime."

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: No. The proposed tax on unrealized gains -- which was included in President Joe Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget and supported by Vice President Kamala Harris -- would only apply to those with net assets valued at more than $100 million. Those with retirement accounts valued at $70,000 would not be affected.

We wrote about that earlier this month -- "Online Posts Misrepresent Biden’s Proposed Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains ([link removed]) ."


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Video: FactChecking the Harris-Trump Debate ([link removed]) ": The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump generated a lot of work for fact-checkers. In this video, we complied some highlights from the Sept. 10 debate.
* "Posts Misrepresent Video of Biden with Trump Hat ([link removed]) ": A viral video showing President Joe Biden briefly donning a campaign hat for Donald Trump has been used to suggest that Biden is endorsing Trump. He isn’t. He had exchanged hats with a Trump supporter at a 9/11 memorial in an effort to show unity.
* "Harris’ Jobs Remarks Lack Context ([link removed]) ": In boasting of job creation, Vice President Kamala Harris told an organization of Black journalists, “We have the lowest Black unemployment rate in generations.” The rate did dip to its lowest point last year, but as of last month it was the same as the pre-pandemic rate under the Trump administration.
* "Posts Sharing Mpox Misinformation Recycle Claims from Prior Viral Outbreaks ([link removed]) ": Responding to rising mpox cases in Africa, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on Aug. 14. Social media posts subsequently repeated a plethora of false or baseless claims, including that COVID-19 vaccines cause the viral disease or that the current outbreak is part of a global conspiracy.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Anuncio engañoso de los demócratas en Nevada sobre la ‘eliminación de Medicare y la Seguridad Social ([link removed]) ’": Sam Brown, el candidato republicano al Senado en Nevada, ha apoyado públicamente la reducción del gasto federal de manera que, según los expertos, requeriría recortes profundos en programas populares. Sin embargo, su oponente demócrata va demasiado lejos en un anuncio televisivo que afirma que Brown “apoyó la eliminación de Medicare y la Seguridad Social”.
* "Una guía para el Proyecto 2025 ([link removed]) ": El Proyecto 2025 entrega una hoja de ruta para que “el próximo presidente conservador” achique el gobierno federal y cambie fundamentalmente cómo funciona. El expresidente Donald Trump ha dicho que no sabe nada sobre el plan. Los demócratas lo llaman “la agenda Proyecto 2025 de Trump”. Aquí revisamos el plan: qué contiene, quién lo escribió y qué han dicho los candidatos al respecto.
* "Publicaciones tergiversan video de Biden con gorra de Trump ([link removed]) ": Un video viral que muestra al presidente Joe Biden usando brevemente una gorra de campaña de Donald Trump ha sido utilizado para sugerir que Biden está apoyando a Trump. No es así. Biden intercambió gorras con un partidario de Trump en una ceremonia de conmemoración del 11 de septiembre en un esfuerzo por mostrar unidad.
* "FactCheck.org destacado en NBC10 y Telemundo 62 ([link removed]) :" NBC10 y Telemundo 62 en Filadelfia destacó el trabajo de FactCheck.org en segmentos al aire antes, durante y después del debate entre el expresidente Donald Trump y la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris.
* "Publicaciones virales hacen afirmación infundada sobre los pendientes de Harris en el debate ([link removed]) ": Publicaciones en las redes sociales afirmaron sin fundamento que la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris llevaba pendientes equipados con dispositivos de audio para hacer trampa durante el debate con el expresidente Donald Trump. Afirmaciones infundadas similares circularon antes o después de los debates de 2016 y 2020 con antiguos oponentes políticos de Trump.

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