On 26 July 2017, TheLastLineOfDefense.com published a shocking article about an unexpected diagnosis for former child actor Kirk Cameron:
Actor, musician, director and devoted follower of Christ, Kirk Cameron, has been stricken with an extremely rare form of what can only be described as a biblical disease. Cameron has a mutated form of leprosy that is so rare, less than one in 600 million people will ever encounter someone who has it.
The strain, leprosis metapupalis carnivore’, essentially turns its victim into a walking pile of dead skin, rotting flesh, and festering organs while keeping the brain functioning at primal levels and the heart pumping just enough to send diseased blood to the marrow and muscles to allow the person to be mobile.
This is not a genuine news item. TheLastLineOfDefense.com is an entertainment web site that does not publish factual stories, and carries multiple disclaimers labeling its content as fiction:
In a cynical world where the news of the day often seems fake, The Last Line of Defense offers today's busy conservative a place to go to read things they'll enjoy and congregate with a bunch of people they agree with. So while everything on this site is a satirical work of fiction, we are proud to present it to those who will have called it real anyway.
DISCLAIMER: America’s Last Line of Defense is a satirical publication that may sometimes appear to be telling the truth. We assure you that’s not the case. We present fiction as fact and our sources don’t actually exist. Names that represent actual people and places are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality.
In other words, if you believe this crap you’re a real dumbass.
If Cameron, who is best known for playing Mike Seaver on the show "Growing Pains", was truly diagnosed with a rare form of leprosy, legitimate news outlets would certainly report on it. However, the only mention of this alleged diagnosis comes from a well-known purveyor of fake news.