Social media posts and videos falsely claiming that the World Health Organization (WHO) director general no longer considers himself Ethiopian have been widely shared online.

One video uploaded on YouTube, and which has been viewed more than 100,000 times, claims Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that during an interview.

But the claim is totally fabricated.

Dr Tedros, who is Ethiopian, hasn’t spoken about the conflict in the northern region of Tigray.

Those spreading the claim took advantage of the BBC having interviewed a doctor, Tewodros Tefera, who said he no longer considers himself Ethiopian.

The doctor, who fled across the border into Sudan late last year, spoke to the BBC’s Andrew Harding from Hamdayet, a refugee reception centre which has been hosting thousands of refugees from the conflict in Tigray.

“Thinking of being an Ethiopian now is gone…So, the idea of [holding] the same passport is gone,” Tewodros said.

Tewodros is sometimes written as Tedros.

The Ethiopian government has been highly critical of the WHO head.

On Saturday the state-owned Ethiopia News Agency published a story accusing him of being an “advocate of the terrorist group…the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)” which has been fighting for control of the region.