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,”...
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