No reports of Ebola outbreak in connection to Burning Man, contrary to posts | Fact check

Isabella Fertel, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: CDC warned of Ebola outbreak at Burning Man, then deleted post

A Sept. 4 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) claims the Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to attendees of Burning Man, an annual gathering in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

“In a now deleted tweet, the CDC warns of a potential Eb0l@ outbreak at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada,” reads the text in the post.

“Ebola outbreak confirmed at Black Rock City, NV,” reads the text of the purported CDC post, which is shown in the Instagram post. “It is recommended that all Burning Man attendees remain in their dwellings until further notice. Current State of Emergency in progress.”

The post garnered more than 500 likes in two days. Other versions of the post, many including the same screenshot, continue to circulate on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

Authorities say there have been no reports of Ebola, requests for Ebola testing or announcement of an Ebola outbreak in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert related to Burning Man or any other event. The post appears to use an altered version of a CDC graphic from 2016.

No reports of Ebola outbreak at Burning Man festival

Heavy rains in the Black Rock Desert created flooding and untraversable muddy conditions, prompting organizers to issue a shelter-in-place order for attendees of the Burning Man festival.

But Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, spokesperson for the Burning Man Project, told USA TODAY in an email that claims of an Ebola outbreak at the festival were “unfounded and untrue,” calling the screenshots “fake.”

There is no mention of an Ebola outbreak on the official website or social media accounts for Burning Man.

The CDC never announced an outbreak of Ebola at the festival on social media or otherwise, CDC spokesperson Scott Pauley previously told the Associated Press.

“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,” said Pauley, whose office did not immediately provide a comment to USA TODAY.

The Instagram post appears to use an altered version of a health advisory graphic created by the CDC in July 2016 regarding the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The original graphic includes text that reads “Recently in West Africa?” and a map of the western region of the continent. The version included in the post was changed to reference Nevada and Burning Man.

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Some of the posts also claim employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived at the festival both before and after heavy rains prompted organizers to temporarily close entrance and exit gates.

But that claim is also wrong, according to FEMA spokesperson Jeremy Edwards.

The agency has not sent personnel or resources to Burning Man or received any requests from local or state authorities for assistance, Edwards told USA TODAY in an email.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the posts for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Lead Stories also debunked this claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Ebola outbreak reported at Burning Man | Fact check