Fact Check

Portland Oregon Host to Deadly New Strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease

New form of STD discovered among residents of Portland, Oregon?

Published Sept. 30, 2013

Claim:

Claim:   A new form of STD has been discovered among residents of the city of Portland, Oregon.


FALSE

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, September 2013]

There are stories going around about a new std that comes from Portland OR, & that 1/4 of the entire city's population has it. Says it is an untreatable mutation "Super Aids" - sounds unbelievable to me.

Origins:   On 28 September 2013, the National Report published an article positing that a new form of sexually transmitted disease (STD) had been discovered among residents of the city of Portland, Oregon:

A new STD has emerged in the free-spirited, bohemian mecca known as the City of Roses. Surrounded by conservatives and farmland, Portland Oregon acts as the states [sic] own personal Australia. A prison settlement where only the most erotically venereal, politically misinformed and emotionally damaged of individuals congregate. Existing in its own stagnate microcosm of empty, alcohol-induced human sexuality, the residents have bred an entirely new form of STD.

Descriptions of the medical affliction include open sores and painful swelling of the genitalia. The real threat is the low success rate of treatment, leading to a serious blood infection and the complete inability to urinate. This can quickly escalate to a ruptured bladder and toxic shock if not treated by a doctor immediately.

By the following day links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, the article was just a bit of satire from the National Report, a web site that publishes outrageous fictional stories such as "IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next," "Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge," and "New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples."

The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page notes that:

National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.


Last updated:   30 September 2013

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

Article Tags