A Facebook (FB) page and netizen are alleging that China is currently experiencing a “zombie outbreak” that is being concealed by their government. This is not true.
The videos were published in early January and continue to circulate this week with more than 128,000 recent views, according to FB. A text on the video read: “ZOMBIE VIRUS AKSIDENTENG NADISKUBRE NG MGA SCIENTIST (Zombie virus accidentally discovered by scientists)!”
The video presented two short clips: a CCTV footage showing a person who is presumed dead suddenly rising from a hospital bed and a woman inside a train biting a man’s nose.
The clips are not related to the fabricated allegation but were used to support the baseless claim of a zombie outbreak in China.
The stylized CCTV footage of the man rising from the bed came from a viral marketing campaign of the Russian TV comedy series “Hello Again!”
At around the 9-minute mark of the series’ first episode, a similar scene is shown with the same man rising from a mortuary bed, although shot from a different camera angle.
A reverse image search reveals that the other clip was taken from South China Morning Post’s July 2018 report about a 36-year old woman biting a stranger due to “marriage problems” with her husband.
The video narrator of the dubious video also said this “zombie virus” that was discovered by scientists came from the melting Siberian permafrost caused by climate change.
According to the scientists’ November 2022 pre-print of their study, these 13 viruses were called as such not because it turns people into zombies, but because the scientists revived the ancient viruses that lay dormant in the permafrost for their research.
This fake video emerged amid the rising trend of COVID-19 cases in China due to Beijing’s sudden relaxation of its safety protocols, abandoning its zero-COVID policy last month.
FB page Kakaiba (created on Jan. 3, 2020) initially published the video, garnering over 2,300 reactions, 200 comments, 560 shares and 26,000 views. It was reposted by a netizen as an FB reel, receiving more than 2,200 reactions, 160 comments, 1,300 shares and 331,000 views.
Have you seen any dubious claims, photos, memes, or online posts that you want us to verify? Fill out this reader request form or send it to ‘VERA, the truth bot’ on Viber.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)