Tag Archives: Ebola

Is There An Ebola Outbreak At Burning Man 2023?!

Are people being quarantined at the Burning Man 2023 festival because of an Ebola outbreak?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : There Is An Ebola Outbreak At Burning Man 2023!

Messages claiming that there is an Ebola outbreak at the Burning Man 2023 festival have gone viral on social media.

UAE Exotic Falconry & Finance : EBOLA OUTBREAK BURNING MAN

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. Learn more: bit.ly/NjMkIRjjH

Died Suddenly : 🚨Developing Story🚨

We are getting reports that there has been a confirmed Ebola Outbreak on the ground at The Burning Man Festival in Nevada.

Attendees have been told to shelter in place allegedly due to all of the flooding, and one attendee has been pronounced dead without a cause of death given.

TrueAnon : How I found out about it. Staying put for now, but reallllllly freaked out

“Yo just figured you should hear from me first. Darrel is crazy sick with something that has him coughing up really coagulated blood. Medic showed up wearing a full suit. No idea where he is now. I would stay inside your camper.”

Recommended : Do You Now Need ETA To Travel To The UK?!

 

Truth : There Is No Ebola Outbreak At Burning Man 2023!

This appears to be another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on Twitter, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Burning Man Closed To Traffic

First, let me just give you a quick summary of what’s going on at the Burning Man 2023 festival.

The 2023 Burning Man festival started on Sunday, August 27, 2023. However, it was suddenly hit by heavy rainfall on Friday, September 1. Several months of rainfall inundated the area that day.

The heavy rainfall flooded the playa and turned the ground into ankle-deep mud. It quickly became impossible to drive any vehicles on the muck. Even worse – it continued to rain and drizzle over the next few days.

As a result, the organisers closed all roads leading into and out of the Burning Man area, and told attendees to conserve food, water and fuel.

The gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed. Ingress and egress are halted until further notice.

No driving is permitted except emergency vehicles. If you are in [Black Rock City], conserve food and water, and shelter in a warm space.

More updates to come. Stay safe!

Fact #2 : There Was No Quarantine At Burning Man

Even though the roads in and out of Burning Man were closed, and people were told to shelter in place, there never was a quarantine. That’s because there is no outbreak of any disease, Ebola or otherwise.

People who wanted to leave the Burning Man festival could still do so. They just had to hike their way through the thick mud.

While some 72,000 people remained on site, quite a number of people hiked their way out. DJ Diplo and Chris Rock, for example, managed to hitchhike a ride on the back of a pickup truck after hiking out.

Just walked five miles in the mud out of Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up.

If there really was an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man, there would have been a strict quarantine, and no one would have been allowed to simply walk out of the area.

People at the Black Rock Desert site also would not be allowed to socialise. Yet, people there continue to gather and socialise.

Recommended : Did Yasuhiro Sonoda Die After Drinking Fukushima Water?!

Fact #3 : Burning Man Organisers Dismissed Ebola Claims

On Sunday, 3 September 2023, the Burning Man organisers issued a press release dismissing the rumours of an Ebola outbreak:

The online rumors of transmissible illnesses in Black Rock City are unfounded and untrue.

Fact #4 : Bureau of Land Management Dismissed Ebola Claims

The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert site, also issued a statement, dismissing the rumours of an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man 2023.

[We] can confirm the event entrance was closed for the year because unusual rainfall caused muddy conditions where there was a full stop on vehicles, and not for an Ebola outbreak. We have heard no information of any participants with Ebola.

Fact #5 : Burning Man Death Still Under Investigation

The claims of an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man 2023 was also partly fuelled by reports that a man died there.

On Friday, 1 September 2023, a man died at the Burning Man festival, which was confirmed by the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office the next day.

On Sunday, 3 September, Burning Man confirmed confirmed the death in a press release, stating that the cause was “unrelated to the weather”.

Our emergency services department reached a call for service extremely quickly for a male, approximately 40 years old, and could not resuscitate the patient.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the death, and has not announced the man’s cause of death. However, that does not mean that it was Ebola. Obviously, if it was Ebola, the area would have been placed under strict quarantine!

Recommended : Is Biden Admin Bringing Back FULL COVID Restrictions?!

Fact #6 : Burning Man Attendees May Get To Leave By Today

Burning Man attendees who were caught knee-deep in the mud may get to leave by today – Monday, 4 September 2023.

The organisers earlier said that “the roads in Black Rock City remain too wet and muddy to officially open them for Exodus on Sunday 9/3.

They now say that they “expect to start Exodus on Monday morning 9/4 as long as the conditions improve“.

Obviously, this is only possible because there is no Ebola outbreak, and the ground is drying up enough to support the movement of vehicles!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Did WHO Announce A New Pandemic Virus Called Marburg?

Did the WHO just announce a new pandemic virus called Marburg?!

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Did WHO Announce A New Pandemic Virus Called Marburg?

People are sharing this video of WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announcing an outbreak of the new Marburg virus in the country of Guinea in West Africa.

For your reference, here is a transcript of what Dr. Tedros said and the video (with our overlays to prevent abuse) :

The Ministry of Health of Guinea informed WHO of a case of Marburg virus disease in the country’s south west [region], a man who died 8 days after onset of symptoms.

This is the first known case of Marburg in West Africa.

WHO and our partners are supporting Guinea’s Ministry of Health to investigate the source of the outbreak, trace contacts and inform the local community about how to protect themselves.

About 150 contacts have been identified and are being followed up, including 3 family members and a health worker who have been identified as high-risk close contacts.

Marburg is a very different virus to the one that cause COVID-19, but many of the elements of the response are the same – isolating and caring for those infected, tracing and quarantining their contacts and engaging local communities in the response.

There is no licensed vaccine for Marburg, although there are vaccines under development. And WHO is working with our partners to seek opportunities to assist them during this outbreak through the R&D blueprint for epidemics.

Anti-vaccination activists like Graham Hood, a former Qantas pilot, are using this Marburg virus announcement to claim that COVID-19 vaccination is “pointless” :

For those of you who think that being vaccinated is going to return us to a normal life, have a look at the news today from …

Dr Tedros from the World Health Organisation, who announced there is a new pandemic coming, there is a new virus that’s not linked to COVID and it’s called Marburg.

His advice is for countries to treat Marburg as they have treated COVID. A different vaccination is already being worked on … they knew about it before they announced it. They have been working on the vaccine for a while.

 

Truth : WHO Did Not Announce A New Pandemic Virus Called Marburg

This is yet another example of viral fake news circulating on WhatsApp, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Marburg Virus Is Not New

Marburg virus is NOT a new virus. It was actually discovered in 1967, in Marburg, Germany. Hence, the name – Marburg virus.

It spread to the Frankfurt, as well as Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia. 31 people were infected, and 7 of them died.

Fact #2 : Marburg Virus Is Similar To Ebola

The Marburg virus belongs to the same Filoviridae (filovirus) family as Ebola viruses, and cause clinically similar diseases characterised by haemorrhagic fever and capillary leakage.

Like Ebola, Marburg has a high mortality rate, varying from 24% to 88%, with an average of 50%.

Fact #3 : Video Was From 9 August 2021

The video was recorded on 9 August 2021, so it’s not a new video.

Fact #4 : Marburg Outbreak Was Over By September 2021

The Ministry of Health of Guinea informed WHO of one confirmed case of Marburg disease virus (MVD) in south-western Guinea on 6 August 2021.

The Ministry of Health of Guinea declared the end of the outbreak on 16 September 2021.

Fact #5 : Only One Person Died

A total of 173 contacts were identified, including 14 high-risk contacts. Fortunately, no one else developed symptoms.

Only the man, who was identified as the first known case of Marburg virus disease in Guinea, died.

Fact #6 : Marburg Virus Has Low Pandemic Risk

Marburg virus primarily transmits through direct contact with blood and/or bodily fluids of infected persons or animals; and through exposure to infected Rousettus bats.

This greatly reduces its transmissibility, compared to a respiratory virus like SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.

So while Marburg is more likely to kill an infected person than SARS-CoV-2, it does not transmit as easily and is very unlikely to become a pandemic.

Fact #7 : Marburg Virus Has No Relevance To COVID-19 Pandemic

Anti-vaccination activists like Graham Hood, a former Qantas pilot, are using this Marburg virus announcement as “evidence” that vaccination is useless and pointless.

Their contention is – why get vaccinated against COVID-19 when new viruses like Marburg will keep coming up, with new vaccines?

Obviously, Marburg is not a new virus as I mentioned earlier. But more importantly, it is not related to SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19.

Whether there is a Marburg outbreak or not, the COVID-19 vaccines will protect us against infection, hospitalisation or death from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Fact #8 : Marburg Vaccines Have Been Under Development For Years

Marburg vaccines have been under development for years because it was discovered a long time ago.

The claim that WHO was secretly working on the vaccines before announcing this “new virus” is completely FALSE, and is based on their ignorance that Marburg virus was discovered 55 years ago!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

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