DigitEye India Fact Checkers
One social media message is being shared on WhatsApp aimed at creating panic among people not to drink cold drinks such as Maaza, Fanta, 7 Up, Coca Cola, Mountain Dew, Pepsi among others.
The message reads: “Please forward to all your friends. The message is given from Hyderabad police to all over India. Do not drink cold drinks such as Maaza, Fanta, 7 Up, Coca Cola, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, etc. for next few days as a worker from the company has added his blood contaminated with Ebola virus in it. It was shown yesterday on NDTV news…. Please forward this message to other people as well in your family as well. Thank you.”
FACT CHECK
When we received the above message on our WhatsApp for fact checking, we searched for the news and no such news r advisory has been given. The claim that it was aired on NDTV was false as the news channel did not give out any such news.
Further search revealed that no such advisory was given by the Telangana Police or the Hyderabad Police as claimed in the message. It was also debunked by the state-run fact-checker PIB as false.
The Ebola “virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids,” according to the WHO. As per the CDC, a “person can only spread an ebolavirus to other people after they develop signs and symptoms of Ebola disease.”
However, this sort of message appears frequently on WhatsApp to trigger panic among people. It first appeared in 2016 on Facebook by a user named ManDeep Singh Kamboj and he quoted the police in the Philippines as:“Important message from manila police to all over Philippines and India: for the next few weeks do not drink any product of COOL DRINK as a worker from the company has added his blood contaminated with Ebola virus. It was shown yesterday on NDTV news…. Pls forward this msg urgently to people you care… Take care.” However, all the above messages were debunked and proved wrong.
Claim: A WhatsApp message advised people not to drink any cold drinks such as Maaza, Fanta, 7 Up, Coca Cola, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, etc. over coming weeks because a worker has contaminated the product with his Ebola-infected blood.
Conclusion: The WhatsApp message is false and it was an old claim debunked many times in the past.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
