Congo Outbreak

Updated: November 24, 2019

Did 5,000 people really die of measles in the Congo?

Well, first of all, this person is a fact-checker at Truth or Fiction (handle: @erumors), a site we happen to know and trust. So if anyone checks things they share, it's her.

That said, let's check out BBC News, and make sure we see the number in context.

So we check the context, and yes, the figure is true. It's a major epidemic, and is worse than the Ebola outbreak in terms of death count.

If you read a lot of news, you likely know the BBC, but many people don't so let's check it.

We scan the blurbs, but this is the right one.

So -- big isn't always better, but this is a big news organization.

Also, the URL matches. We could go in deeper into other indicators, but everything from its history, to it's size, to its awards tells us this it a real news outfit. The story is real, and the number is correct and not out of context.