The Claim
Back in September, at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, an Ebola breakout was confirmed by officials, and a national emergency was declared. There is no clear evidence of this being discovered, and the official tweet has since been deleted. This strange claim sparked many questions about whether this even happened or if it was some prank.
Who’s Behind the Information?
Supposedly, the CDC posted the tweet screenshotted above, saying that a breakout had been confirmed and it was best to stay in your house because a national emergency had been sent out. The CDC is the Center for Disease Control and Protection, and its job is to protect people from health threats and save lives. However, the federal health officials never reported any cases, so we already see some contradiction between the two sources.
Due to severe flooding, many attendees were left stranded in a big traffic pileup, and this is where the breakout allegedly happened. The CDC swears that they did not post such a thing and that a similar post had been made in 2016 mentioning Africa, where most Ebola breakouts happen, and that it was changed to Nevada. Representatives from Burning Man also refuted the recent claims.
Look Into the Evidence & Experts or Do A Keyword Search
After doing a quick Google search, I only found articles saying that there was no Ebola breakout and that the pictures and posts were digitally created. A spokesperson for the CDC revealed that they did not receive any reports of the Ebola breakout, and they certainly did not post anything or declare a national emergency. Attendees receiving this information turned an already stressful situation into a much more complicated one. After being trapped, the last thing they want to hear is an infectious disease breakout. This is why officials always recommend turning to verified sources and cross-checking your information.
Our rating
So, this claim is not legit at all. The photos and posts are entirely inaccurate and do not provide factual information. The images are photoshopped and created digitally. There is no proof or any records supporting the outbreak of Ebola. These posts quickly reached their way to social media, spread across the United States, and gave many people a piece of misinformation. To prevent this issue, it is crucial to fact-check posts you see and not believe everything you see on social media.
