As a result of Friday’s torrential rains that caused floods and mudslides and advised tens of thousands of festival goers to seek cover from the storm and preserve food and water, false reports of an Ebola breakout at Burning Man circulated on social media throughout the weekend.
Officials claim that no Ebola cases have been detected, despite the pandemonium during Burning Man and the death of one visitor.
In a statement to indy100, the Bureau of Land Management, which is in charge of the Nevada location of Black Rock Desert, said: “We have heard no information of any participants with Ebola.”
Insider requested a statement from the Bureau of Land Management, but they did not answer right away.
On X, now known as Twitter, some people published a screenshot of a phony CDC article that claimed there was an epidemic of the fatal virus, which is generally seen in regions of Africa, near the location of the week-long music and arts festival. This sparked rumors that began to spread on Saturday.
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Fact-Checking Ebola Claims
Forbes stated that although a different X user claimed to have tested positive for Ebola, they may have been kidding.
According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is a serious and sometimes deadly infection that is transferred among humans by direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids or contaminated surfaces.
It is typically conveyed by wild animals like fruit bats and porcupines. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the average death rate is 50%. The first Ebola outbreaks occurred in isolated villages in Central Africa in 1976, and the 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the worst on record, according to the WHO.
It is what is known as a viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects many of the body’s organ systems, harms the overall cardiovascular system, and reduces the body’s ability to function on its own. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Ebola cases were reported in the US during that time, largely among medical personnel who had visited West Africa.
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Source: Business Insider
