Illnesses and deaths among persons attending an electronic dance-music festival — New York City, 2013[1]
Summary
CDC/NYC DOHMH field investigation of adverse events among attendees of the August 31 - September 1, 2013 NYC electronic dance-music festival (Electric Zoo), triggered by two attendee deaths. Investigation identified 22 ED-visit cases; nine were severe, including the two deaths. 21 of 22 patients (95%) had used drugs or alcohol; of 17 with toxicology testing, MDMA and other compounds were identified — most frequently methylone (11 patients). Frames the EDMF risk context: hours of dancing in summer heat plus synthetic club drugs, with MDMA's serious effects including hyperthermia, seizures, hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis, and multiorgan failure. Recommends public health messaging and strategies to reduce EDMF illness and death.
So what
The definitive public-health investigation of the modern EDM festival death cluster — the event that ended Electric Zoo's final day and reshaped US festival harm-reduction policy. Two details matter operationally: methylone outnumbered MDMA in toxicology (attendees don't know what they've taken, so protocols must treat the syndrome, not the named drug), and the syndrome list (hyperthermia through multiorgan failure) is exactly the Hall & Henry clinical picture — meaning festival medical posts need core-temperature measurement and aggressive cooling, not just observation. Free full text via PMC.
Key findings
- 22 adverse-event cases at one 2013 NYC EDM festival; 9 severe, 2 deaths
- 95% used drugs or alcohol; toxicology positive for methylone more often than MDMA (11/17)
- Adulterant reality: treat the toxidrome, not the drug the patient names
- Risk frame: prolonged dancing + summer heat + synthetic club drugs
- CDC field-investigation format; free full text PMC5779530
Read the paper
- PubMed ↗abstract · free
- PMC full text ↗free full text
- Official source ↗open