We published a story “Summer Surge: MPOX Comes Raging Back” on Aug. 23 online and in that week’s print edition. The World Health Organization recently declared the MPOX outbreak a global health emergency. OutSFL decided to write a story focused on the local infection numbers and how our readers can protect themselves.
The only problem is that the numbers we reported were wrong, and after careful consideration we have decided to retract (delete) the story. It has been removed from online and our social media post was removed as well. The original version of the article cited inaccurate data from the Florida Department of Health. Due to a mistake in using the state's reporting tool, we reported cumulative totals since 2022 instead of the specific numbers for this summer – a major difference. Because we were working under the assumption of incorrect numbers, we also wrote this line: “Meanwhile, other strains are having a huge resurgence in Florida.”
As soon as this egregious error was brought to my attention, we made the necessary updates online and issued a correction. But after additional consideration, we decided the story did not meet our editorial standards and decided to retract the story in its entirety.
I'd like to thank the reader who brought this mistake to our attention via email. While we always strive for accuracy, we understand that there will be times when we fall short. It's important to hold ourselves accountable when this happens. When errors occur, it's our responsibility to take swift action — not only to correct them, but also to acknowledge the mistake and ensure that the correction is displayed prominently.
In this case, the information we gave our readers amounted to medical misinformation and could have led to a false panic, which ultimately led to our decision to retract the story.
Thank you for understanding. We apologize for the error.
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