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http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2014/10/ebola-africas-image-takes-hit
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Ebola: Africa's image takes a hit
Sun, 10/19/2014 - 1:26pm
Christopher Torchia - Associated Press - Associated Press
FILE : In this Saturday, Oct. 18, file photo a burial team in protective
gear bury the body of a woman suspected to have died from Ebola virus in
Monrovia, Liberia. The disease has ravaged a small part of Africa, but the
international image of the whole continent is increasingly under siege,
reinforcing some old stereotypes. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh, File)
In the United States, some parents fearful of deadly Ebola pulled children
out of a school after the principal returned from Zambia, an African nation
far from the area hit by the disease. In Geneva, a top U.N. official warned
against anti-African discrimination fueled by fears of Ebola. The disease
has ravaged a small part of Africa, but the international image of the
whole continent is increasingly under siege, reinforcing some old
stereotypes.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — the African countries afflicted by the
Ebola outbreak — have a combined population of about 22 million on a
continent with more than 1 billion people. Their corner of West Africa
encompasses an area the size of California, or almost as big as Morocco.
Yet the epidemic feeds into a narrative of disaster on a continent of 54
countries that has seen some progress in past years, and false perceptions
of Ebola's reach are hurting African business distant from the affected
areas.
"It speaks to a whole discourse about the danger of Africa," said Michael
Jennings, a senior lecturer in international development at the School of
Oriental and African Studies in London.
He cited the recent decision of a British school to postpone a visit by a
teacher from the West African country of Ghana after parents expressed
concern about the Ebola virus. Ghana does not border the hard-hit nations
and has not reported any cases of the disease.
Jennings said fearful people don't necessarily react in a rational way and
the message of some comments on social media in Britain is: "Why don't we
just stop everyone in West Africa from coming?"
Africa has had a troubled image. Famine in Ethiopia, chaos in Somalia and
genocide in Rwanda drove the idea of a continent in perpetual crisis. In
recent years, though, an end to a number of wars and ensuing stability and
growth pointed to a turnaround that some enthusiasts dubbed "Africa Rising."
Now the economic impact of Ebola fears is being felt in many parts of
Africa. Hotels, tourism operators and conference organizers are recording
increasing cancellations.
Thirty international buyers pulled out of an annual tourism expo that began
Thursday in Zimbabwe's resort town of Victoria Falls, said Karikoga Kaseke,
the national tourism agency chief. He said business travelers from China
and Malaysia were among those who recently canceled trips, and Jamaican
musicians have also skipped Zimbabwean shows.
The southern African country is more than 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles)
from Ebola-hit Liberia, or about twice the distance between London and
Moscow.
In the U.S. state of Mississippi, a middle school principal has taken a
week of vacation in an attempt to allay parents' fears about Ebola after he
returned from a trip to Zambia, another southern African nation without any
reported Ebola cases. In Pennsylvania, two high school soccer coaches
resigned last week after their players hurled Ebola taunts at an opponent
from West Africa.
Soccer players on Sierra Leone's national team have been treated as Ebola
risks in African Cup qualifying games even though none of the squad lives
in Sierra Leone because they play for clubs in Europe and elsewhere.
Opponents have sometimes refused to shake the hands of the Sierra Leoneans
or swap shirts — a soccer tradition after a game — because of fears of
catching the deadly virus.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has warned
against "a mentality that locks people into rigid identity groups and
reduces all Africans — or all West Africans, or some smaller, national or
local group — to a stereotype."
Jens David Ohlin, a professor at Cornell Law School in the United States,
said discrimination was a concern as states seek to prevent the Ebola virus
from entering their borders, but he warned against "oversensitivity to
discrimination that will prevent governments from appropriately dealing
with the situation."
The early international response to Ebola's spread, described by some as
slow, is linked to its location, according to Ohlin.
He said: "Because it was in Africa, people just sort of threw their hands
up."
Received on Mon Oct 20 2014 - 15:01:58 EDT