The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission

The tragedy of the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa was exacerbated by World Health Organization (WHO) rhetoric that depicted medical personnel as saviors of an irrational and emotional public. That common rhetoric rests on a faulty image of scientific knowledge as a substance that binds its affil...

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Main Author: Celeste Condit
Format: Article
Language:Catalan
Published: Universitat de València 2016-04-01
Series:Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/4403
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author Celeste Condit
author_facet Celeste Condit
author_sort Celeste Condit
collection DOAJ
description The tragedy of the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa was exacerbated by World Health Organization (WHO) rhetoric that depicted medical personnel as saviors of an irrational and emotional public. That common rhetoric rests on a faulty image of scientific knowledge as a substance that binds its affiliates into a community with special powers and immunities. This analysis shows how such rhetoric blinded the international community to attending to the potential role of health care sites and health care workers as vectors of disease transmission. This case illustrates why analysis of rhetoric is part of a full scientific approach to gaining, sharing, and deploying knowledge.
format Article
id doaj-art-8375dfd455cb49feb0e8dbf5fb9faed4
institution Kabale University
issn 2174-3487
2174-9221
language Catalan
publishDate 2016-04-01
publisher Universitat de València
record_format Article
series Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
spelling doaj-art-8375dfd455cb49feb0e8dbf5fb9faed42024-11-18T16:02:48ZcatUniversitat de ValènciaMètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review2174-34872174-92212016-04-01610.7203/metode.6.4403The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmissionCeleste Condit0<p>University of Georgia (USA).</p>The tragedy of the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa was exacerbated by World Health Organization (WHO) rhetoric that depicted medical personnel as saviors of an irrational and emotional public. That common rhetoric rests on a faulty image of scientific knowledge as a substance that binds its affiliates into a community with special powers and immunities. This analysis shows how such rhetoric blinded the international community to attending to the potential role of health care sites and health care workers as vectors of disease transmission. This case illustrates why analysis of rhetoric is part of a full scientific approach to gaining, sharing, and deploying knowledge. https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/4403Ebolarhetoric of sciencehealth communicationscience communicationWorld Health Organization
spellingShingle Celeste Condit
The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
Ebola
rhetoric of science
health communication
science communication
World Health Organization
title The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
title_full The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
title_fullStr The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
title_full_unstemmed The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
title_short The spread of Ebola: How the world health organization’s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
title_sort spread of ebola how the world health organization s rhetoric contributed to virus transmission
topic Ebola
rhetoric of science
health communication
science communication
World Health Organization
url https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/4403
work_keys_str_mv AT celestecondit thespreadofebolahowtheworldhealthorganizationsrhetoriccontributedtovirustransmission
AT celestecondit spreadofebolahowtheworldhealthorganizationsrhetoriccontributedtovirustransmission