Ebola
The subject of a widespread public health panic in 2000, the Ebola virus continues to affect populations in sub-Saharan Africa. A quick-moving and extremely deadly virus (mortality rates range from 50 to 90 percent), Ebola rages through rural, isolated communities, often wiping out entire villages. This year alone, two major outbreaks of Ebola have occurred. It is estimated that 187 people died from the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a new strain of Ebola is currently ravaging the Bundibugyo district of Uganda.
 
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12.17.07
| 01:40 PM - |
Stickiwicket - let's not generalize.
jb - I wonder if generalizing makes it worse. Example: "are they [the entirety of Africa] ever going to come out of the state you're in?"
By grouping the entire continent as sick, hungry and dying - we just perpetuate the cycle. Here's how: 1) Africa is big - so many different countries, cultures, economic classes 2) Some part of Africa are doing well, and steadily modernizing (the Northern and Southern Coasts) 3) If we continue to lump them all in - with this idea of overwhelming contagious disease, and corruption - we create a false impression that it is worse than it really is and so makes it less enticing for foreign business (than it should be). 4) This lack of interest in investment, then makes it all that much harder to develop the economy. 5) Also, blowing the scope out of proportion also makes the real problems seem intractable, and overwhelming - and so less likely that something will ever actually happen. 6) Conclusion: Let's not underestimate the importance of expectation bias here! |
12.16.07
| 09:26 PM - |
Poor, poor Africa
StickyWicket - They really get the bad end of all these deals, don't they. Famine, droughts, HIV, and Ebola. My question is What Ever Happened To Africa? Are they ever going to come out of the state that they are in?
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| 05:19 PM - |
We Might be Lucky that its so Virulent
Conrad - i believe i read somewhere that because this thing kills everything it sees and severe symptoms show up relatively quickly that it hasn't spread very far. That being said, it only takes one traveler who thinks he just has the flu to start a real pandemic.
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| 01:38 PM - |
Movie rather than news?
jb - Wasn't the Ebola virus hyped with a movie - I can't remember the title - but I remember there was some famous novel and movie combo that made ebola such a celebrity.
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12.15.07
| 05:09 PM - |
The Bird Flu of 2000
Endless - Ebola was the Bird Flu of 2000. It's the media's "disease of the year." First it was Ebola, then SARS, and now Bird Flu. What's next? Oh yeah, Mad Cow was in there somewhere. One of these days, we ARE going to get another influenza of 1919, just as we've had so many times before that. Actually, I wonder to what extent these diseases have been quelled because the media hype has actually led to a shift in resources toward understanding and containing these diseases. Or maybe we've just been lucky.
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| 04:49 PM - |
Border Control
Anonymous - Neighboring countries aren't letting anyone from Uganda in because of the ebola outbreak. Something tells me that if people in Africa die it doesn't make it past page 12
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