Hyderabad Police did not issue a warning against soft drinks containing the Ebola virus!
Hyderabad Police issued a clarification stating that the viral message is fake.
With Covid19 pandemic, the public is even more vigilant about the possible breakouts of deadly viruses. However, some use this to their advantage by spreading false information related to viruses. Let's look at such a misleading social media post regarding the Ebola virus.
Social Media Claim:
A message claiming to be purportedly written by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation warns people not to consume soft drinks such as Maaza, Coca-Cola, Thumbs Up, 7-Up, Pepsi, Sprite, etc has a company employee has mixed contaminated blood containing the Ebola virus in these drinks. The message further states that this news was recently reported by NDTV.
We received this message on our fact-checking helpline +94771514696.
This message is also widely circulating on Facebook, warning users about this deadly disease spreading through the consumption of soft drinks and asking users to forward this message to as many people as possible.
Fact Check-
A keyword search revealed a similar version of the message that has been circulating on social media since 2019. A clarification by the Hyderabad Police on their Facebook Post on 13 July 2019 states, “Fake news spreading on social media about cool drinks and a warning from Hyderabad city police is fake one and Hyderabad city police never released any message regarding this.” They have issued the same clarification on Twitter as well.
We did not find any relevant news report aired by NDTV recently or in the past.
What is the Ebola Virus Disease?
Ebola virus disease (EVD or Ebola) is a rare but severe illness in humans. It is often fatal.
People get infected with Ebola by touching:
- infected animals when preparing, cooking or eating them
- body fluids of an infected person, such as saliva, urine, faeces or semen
- Things that have the body fluids of an infected person, like clothes or sheets.
Ebola enters the body through cuts in the skin or when touching one’s eyes, nose or mouth. Early symptoms include fever, fatigue and headache. Some types of Ebola can be prevented with vaccines and treated with medicines.
You can read more about this disease on WHO’s website here.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the video to be False. The viral message circulating on social media is fake. Time and again this message is revived to be true to create unnecessary panic among readers.
Title:Hyderabad Police did not issue warning against soft drinks containing Ebola virus
Written By: Fact Crescendo Team
Result: False
