Monkeypox misinformation spreads fast. Here's what scientists actually know about how the virus transmits

Can you catch monkeypox from a toilet seat, or by trying on clothes at a thrift store? Is the virus spreading through bodily fluids? Can you pass it to your pets? 

Search for “monkeypox” on social media, and those are the kinds of questions you’ll find online.

Several months into an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox, platforms like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are rife with sensationalized posts about how this virus might transmit, stoking potential fears that people can catch it in their day-to-day lives, even as data overwhelmingly points to sexual contact between men as a primary driver of global transmission. 

One analysis of monkeypox-related