'Ebola Vaccine Only Works on White People' Fake News Story Goes Viral

An article circulating online claiming that an Ebola vaccine is effective only on white people is a fake news story.

The bogus report was published on The News Nerd, a satirical current affairs website.

The false story read: "The Center of Disease Control, which is headquartered in Atlanta, has released a statement saying the trial vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus will only work on those with white skin."

The article carried a made-up statement from the government agency: "Early tests of an experimental drug, which would effectively combat the spread of Ebola, have proved successful only in those with white skin – we are working diligently to improve the sample to be able to help all those who are in need.

"According to the CDC, the trial was doled out 200 people, but only proved effective to those with white skin. Some scientists believe high levels of melanin may somehow be affecting the sample," the story went on.

The website's front page reads: "The stories posted on The News Nerd are for entertainment purposes only. The stories may mimic articles found in the headlines, but rest assured they are purely satirical."

Many Twitter users did not notice the disclaimer, and believed the fake news report, and expressed their disbelief.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed around 3,000 people have died from the current outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

Fake stories, including celebrity death hoaxes, are becoming more frequent day-by-day.

Facebook had recently announced that they would add a "satire" tag for articles from parody news websites like The Onion.

"We are running a small test which shows the text '[Satire]' in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units," a Facebook representative told Mashable.