Rumours that citizens and residents have been injected with the HIV virus, circulating on social media, by a female employee of the Ministry of Health have been branded fake news by officials.

According to the rumours, the employee went to people's homes during the implementation of the National Nutrition Survey, would anesthetise them and then inject them with the HIV virus. A photo of a woman accompanied the message, that was circulated on mediums such as WhatsApp. 

Now the Ministry of Health has issued a statement saying the rumours were untrue.

"This staff member was performing her fieldwork for the mentioned survey. The Ministry of Health calls on everyone not to contribute to the publication of such messages, and to confirm with the Ministry before publishing any similar messages or to contact the Ministry of Health's call centre at 24441999 to inquire about the information and verify them," the statement read.

Source: Timesofoman