Punters attending this year’s instalment of Burning Seed, a music and culture festival held in rural New South Wales as an extension of the iconic US event Burning Man, have been issued with a deadly disease warning.
As The Daily Advertiser reports, punters who attended Australia’s regional Burning Man event were just looking for a good time and the festival’s legendary atmosphere, but instead could have contracted meningococcal.
According to the Advertiser, an attendee was confirmed to have the life-threatening disease. The NSW Public Health Unit reportedly identified the person’s close contacts and provided assistance, but participants were warned.
Burning Seed organisers issued an official warning to punters, indicating that there was a “low risk” for other attendees, but urging any revellers who begin experiencing symptoms of the illness to go to hospital.
“A gentle heads up, Burners!” they write on their website. “A participant at this year’s Burning Seed was confirmed to have meningococcal disease. The NSW Public Health Unit has given us fantastic support by identifying all the person’s close contacts and undertaking the relevant checks.”
“There is a low risk for other participants,” organisers continue, “but if you begin to feel unwell and experience any of the symptoms listed on the attached fact sheet, please go to to your nearest hospital for further help.”
As Tone Deaf reported last year, New York’s CMJ Music Marathon experienced their own deadly disease scare, after a doctor who was confirmed by New York City officials as the city’s first case of Ebola allegedly attended one of the conference’s events.
All activities at the venue Dr. Craig Spencer, who had treated Ebola patients in an African country ten days prior to attending the event, attended were shut down after it was confirmed that he’d been present at the The Gutter in Williamsburg.
According to a statement released by the proprietors of The Gutter at the time, officials determined there was “no risk” to alley customers and that the venue was closed simply as “a precautionary measure”.
