Practically a dozen Massachusetts counties are on alert for circumstances of japanese equine encephalitis, a uncommon however typically lethal virus transmitted by mosquitoes.
An Aug. 25 Instagram put up tied the virus’s outbreak to a video it claimed confirmed a helicopter dropping mosquitoes from the sky.
“Odd as cities in #Massachusetts put together to lockdown for the subsequent few months due to lethal #Mosquitoes ??? Then there may be this clip of a helicopter there dropping thousands and thousands of them,” the put up’s caption stated.
The Instagram put up is identical as one we discovered on TikTok with the identical video and caption. It was flagged as a part of Meta’s efforts to fight false information and misinformation on its Information Feed. (Learn extra about our partnership with Meta, which owns Fb and Instagram.)
Japanese equine encephalitis kills about 30% of contaminated people and leaves others with neurological issues, the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention studies.
Massachusetts’ Division of Public Well being on Aug. 16 introduced the primary human case of japanese equine encephalitis this yr, an contaminated man in his 80s in Worcester County. Massachusetts first recognized the virus within the state in 1938 and there have been 115 circumstances since then, the division stated. Outbreaks sometimes happen within the state each 10 to twenty years. The latest outbreak, in 2019 and 2020, had 17 circumstances and 7 deaths, the division stated.
The division stated 10 communities are at important or excessive danger for the virus and started a mosquito-spraying program. There aren’t any “lockdowns” because the Instagram put up claims, however some communities have issued voluntary night curfews or closed public parks after sundown, angering some mother and father as a result of these measures would hamper some college fall sports activities and actions.
Within the video, the helicopter circled over an unknown location with a black substance trailing from it. Sticker textual content on the video stated, “Helicopter dropping mosquitoes.”
Utilizing a reverse-image search, we discovered quite a few social media posts sharing the identical video way back to August 2023, together with a number of that stated mosquitoes had been being dropped from a helicopter in Florida.
We additionally discovered a Sept. 8, 2023, fact-check from The Related Press, that traced the video’s origin to an Aug. 27, 2023, TikTok put up that exhibits it was shot in Miami. That video doesn’t point out mosquitoes. The AP couldn’t affirm the substance coming from the helicopter, however a number of specialists instructed them it gave the impression to be blue smoke, probably from a gender reveal occasion.
A TikTok video from 2023 exhibits the identical helicopter video seen within the Instagram put up.
Social media customers who shared the video in 2023 tied it to a genetically modified mosquito program from Oxitec. That firm has launched mosquitoes in Florida to scale back the pest’s inhabitants there, however they aren’t launched from the sky.
There are some mosquito packages that launch the pests from helicopters. The Maui Forest Chicken Restoration Challenge in Hawaii releases Wolbachia contaminated mosquitoes in elevated forest areas to scale back the general mosquito inhabitants and save birds liable to extinction, NPR reported in June. Wolbachia are naturally occurring micro organism that many mosquitoes have already got, however when mosquitoes with two completely different strains mate, their eggs gained’t hatch, the U.S.Environmental Safety Company stated.
However there aren’t any mosquito launch packages in Massachusetts, Division of Public Well being spokesperson Ann Scales stated.
“Massachusetts will not be concerned in any of the Oxitec work, and we’re not conscious of any initiatives the place mosquitoes are launched,” she stated.
Our ruling
An Instagram put up claimed thousands and thousands of mosquitoes launched from a helicopter may very well be tied to an outbreak of japanese equine encephalitis, a lethal mosquito-borne virus.
The video shared within the put up is from Miami in 2023, in line with an Related Press fact-check. There aren’t any Massachusetts packages that contain releasing mosquitoes, a state Division of Public Well being spokesperson stated. The declare is False.
