Posts falsely claim mystery disease outbreak, state of emergency in China

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset, some social media users are warning of what they say is an outbreak of a new, unknown virus in China.

A Jan. 3 Instagram post shared a video of the talking fish head from SpongeBob SquarePants delivering supposedly "breaking news."

"Mystery disease outbreak in China overwhelms hospitals," the fish said. "Videos on social media appear to show hospital units overrun with patients in face masks and parents holding sick children in long lines in pediatric units."

(Screenshot from Instagram)

The video also showed photos of health officials wearing personal protective equipment and groups of masked patients waiting in hospitals. One photo was captioned "‘state of emergency’ China hiding a new epidemic?"

Threads users also posted about a "mystery" virus overwhelming China’s hospitals.

Other social media users claimed China declared a state of emergency over a surge in respiratory illness cases, including influenza A, human metapneumovirus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and COVID-19. Some of these posts focused specifically on human metapneumovirus, or HMPV.

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The posts misconstrue China’s public health situation. A new mysterious virus is not spreading across China, and the country hasn’t declared a state of emergency.

PolitiFact also conducted reverse-image searches using TinEye on the photos in these social media posts and found that most of the images were taken before 2024. Multiple photos were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A World Health Organization spokesperson told PolitiFact that there is no "mystery illness" circulating in China.

Kan Biao, a Chinese health official, said at a Dec. 27, 2024, press conference that China will likely see an increase in respiratory infectious diseases in the winter and spring, but overall cases are expected to be fewer than last year, Reuters reported.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning echoed this at a Jan. 3 press conference. "The (respiratory) diseases appear to be less severe and spread on a smaller scale compared with the previous year," she said, adding that it is safe to travel in China.

In a Jan. 2 report, China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration said overall the number of acute respiratory infectious disease cases trended upward in 2024’s fina week. PolitiFact used Google Chrome to translate the report, which was in Chinese, into English.

Although influenza cases have increased in northern China, the report said, overall cases are lower than the same period a year earlier. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, cases in patients 4 and younger and HMPV cases in patients 14 and younger have risen, particularly in northern provinces.

Meanwhile, cases of rhinovirus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, adenovirus and COVID-19 are low and declining, the report said.

PolitiFact found no reports from the Chinese government or news outlets about the country declaring a state of emergency over public health concerns. 

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stated on December 9, 2024 in a video on Facebook

Drones reported in the U.S., including around the U.S. Capitol, have directed-energy weapons that have a “space-based laser generating system that can create pestilence.”

China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration had not posted on its website about an emergency declaration as of Jan. 7. The agency did not mention a state of emergency in its Jan. 2 report.

Chinese officials also haven’t mentioned a state of emergency during recent press conferences.

We found no reports of a public health emergency announcement on China’s National Health Commission website or its State Council Information Office website.

The U.S. State Department did not mention any public health threats in its Nov. 27, 2024, China travel advisory.

Some social media posts specifically mentioned cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, in China. It’s a respiratory virus that causes coldlike symptoms, such as a cough, fever, nasal congestion and shortness of breath.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said HMPV is not a new virus; it was discovered in 2001. The disease spreads through secretions from coughing or sneezing, close personal contact and touching objects or surfaces contaminated with the virus.

Most HMPV cases are mild, but sometimes it can cause upper and lower respiratory disease, especially in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, the CDC said. HMPV infections are more common in the winter and spring.

There is no specific antiviral treatment for HMPV and no vaccine to prevent infection from the virus, the CDC said.

Social media users claimed China has "a mystery disease outbreak" and declared a "state of emergency."

The respiratory illnesses circulating in China are known viruses, not mystery diseases. Health officials have reported a rise in respiratory infectious diseases, including human metapneumovirus, or HMPV. As of Jan. 7, the Chinese government had not declared a state of emergency over public health concerns.

We rate this claim False.