Laredo school districts debunk monkeypox rumors

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - A new school year means a new batch of rumors.

A social media post had parents from both school districts on alert, but the districts were quick to debunk the rumor.

On Monday night, a social media post popped into hundreds of social media feeds.

The post claimed that both UISD and LISD schools would be closed due to a monkey pox outbreak.

A rumor that according to both school districts was false.

Irene Rosales from UISD says parents should not believe everything they see online.

“It is important that not just to get panicking that when something gets posted out there, there is a lot of mis-information on social media”, said Rosales.

She says rumors about a variety of topics usually swirl around the first day of school.

All with a cruel intention to scare parents, guardians and even students.

For parents or guardians who don’t have social media, UISD reaches out to parents in a different matter.

Through their student automated system, they reach thousands of parents and guardians to inform them on any changes like closures.

Dr. Richard Chamberlain with the City of Laredo Health Department says monkeypox cases are usually confirmed by official health care providers.

“We really want to stress to the community to go to the source of information, we at the Laredo Health Department are here to provide that information to the community looks towards us for that information”, Dr. Chamberlain.

If you see posts or get automated calls that are not are not coming from straight from UISD or LISD, parents and students should ignore them.

Dr. Chamberlain says there are no confirmed monkeypox cases in the city.

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