Burning Man flooding triggers false claims of Ebola outbreak, ‘national emergency’
In this satellite photo provided by Maxar Technologies, an overview of Burning Man festival in Black Rock, Nev on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (©2023 Maxar Technologies via AP)
CLAIM: Officials confirmed an Ebola outbreak at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, where a national emergency was declared.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Federal health officials told The Associated Press they have not received any reports of Ebola cases at the event. A screenshot of a supposed post from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirming such cases was fabricated. And while flooding prompted road closures and left attendees stranded, there is no record of a national emergency being declared.
THE FACTS: A summer storm left muddy roads flooded in Nevada, stranding tens of thousands of partygoers at the festival before event organizers let traffic flow out of the main road Monday afternoon.
But social media posts distorted the facts over the weekend, with claims that the situation had triggered a “national emergency” declaration and that officials had confirmed an outbreak of Ebola at the event.
“So it was announced earlier that Burning Man was declared a national emergency because it was flooded, and so they sent in FEMA,” a woman claims in a TikTok video shared on Instagram, suggesting the development was suspicious.
The AP found no record, including on federal websites and in White House announcements, of a national emergency declaration and FEMA confirmed that it was not involved in the situation.
“No FEMA personnel or assets have been deployed to the Burning Man festival and there are no requests from local or state authorities for our assistance,” FEMA spokesperson Jeremy Edwards said in an email.
On Sunday, before roads were reopened, President Joe Biden said simply that the administration was in touch with local officials about the incident.
The TikTok video, like other posts, goes on to relay baseless rumors of reported cases of Ebola, whose occasional outbreaks in humans primarily occur in Africa, at the festival. Some posts also shared an image made to appear that the CDC confirmed the supposed outbreak on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“In a now deleted tweet, the CDC warns of a potential Eb0l@ outbreak at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada…” reads one post on Instagram.
The purported X post from the agency reads, “Ebola outbreak confirmed at Black Rock City, NV. It is recommended that all Burning Man attendees remain in their dwellings until further notice. Current State of Emergency in progress.”
But the CDC’s X account published no such post.
“CDC has not received any reports of Ebola at the Burning Man Festival and has not issued any warnings or had any requests for assistance from the state and local health departments either,” CDC spokesperson Scott Pauley said in an email.
Reverse image searches further show that a graphic about Ebola used in the fictitious CDC post was published by the agency in 2016, but elements of it were changed. For example, the original graphic asks, “Recently in West Africa?” But the version used in the made-up X post asks, “Recently in Nevada?”
Referencing more online rumors, Pauley also noted the CDC had not received reports of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, or Marburg, a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever, in relation to Burning Man.
A representative for the Burning Man Project organization also refuted the online claims.
“Quite simply, the online rumors of transmissible illnesses in Black Rock City are unfounded and untrue,” Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley said in an email.
The festival had been closed to vehicles after more than a half-inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain fell Friday, causing flooding and foot-deep mud, as the AP reported. Disruptions are part of the event’s recent history: Dust storms forced organizers to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018, and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic.
The annual gathering, which launched on a San Francisco beach in 1986, attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances
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