The New Dawn [Liberia]
6 August 2014
Guest Writer
[…] If you've ridden a taxi cab, a commercial bus or
visited the market places, some offices or even entertainment centers, you
would listen to the rumors all over. And the rumor about the whole Ebola stuff
is that it was the 'Queen of Sheba', who I really don't know and have not seen,
but heard of her, that brought Ebola to Liberia. Can you imagine!!!
According to the rumor mongers, the Queen of Sheba was
in Liberia at the invitation of the government and President since "26
Eve". They say, she even left on Saturday, August 2, 2014 - just imagine
they know everything about the Queen of Sheba (whether they have ever seen or
interacted with her or not, they explain as if they are close to her if at all
she really exist now). It's actually useless to go through the entire rumor
owing to its lack of comprehension.
Now, from denial to Queen of Sheba, it has generated
into the poisoning of drinking wells in communities in Monrovia and its
environs by some undesirable individuals, who these same rumor mongers say, are
doing this on instruction from a certain 'government officials' to justify the
presence of Ebola in Liberia- can you imagine again.
One may not want to deny the fact that there may be
some unscrupulous persons perpetrating wickedness, but to suggest that
"government officials" were doing this to justify the presence of
Ebola in Liberia so that the international community can pump in more money, is
not only a myth, but very unpatriotic. Even though it may seem, not worth
responding to, it is also important to put a halt to these things so that it
will stop giving a different picture of Liberia outside. […]
The Guardian [UK]
9 August 2014
As aid workers offer health
advice on the streets, residents fear emergency measures are starving the
capital of supplies
Gabriella Jóźwiak in Monrovia
[…] A truck pulls up, stacked high with packets of
water. Usually Liberians consider these safer than drinking from wells, but
today business is slow for the sellers. Last week reports that some people
deliberately poisoned local water sources, including those used by
drinking-water companies, have left local people unsure what is safe. A
Liberian newspaper published photos of two suspects on Friday, along with one
of a dead dog that reportedly "melted instantly upon drinking water from
the well". […]
The Sun [Nigeria]
9 August 2014
By VINCENT KALU, CHIOMA IGBOKWE, HENRY OKONKWO,
GILBERT EKEZIE and ANTHONY OBI, LAGOS; JUDEX OKORO, CALABAR; JEFF AMECHI AGBODO,
ABAKALIKI; AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, ABUJA; TUNDE OMOLEHIN, SOKOTO; DAVID MOLOMO, YOLA
and EMMANUEL UZOR, ONITSHA
[…] Across state capitals and major towns in Nigeria
as well as the social media, no issue is more important now than Ebola and the
different steps including the ridiculous being taken by Nigerians to avoid
being caught in the web. The panicky measures have led to a high demand and
high costs of not only sanitizers but salt which is the latest ‘therapy’ many
residents of Lagos, where the virus has claimed two lives with six more on
danger list, woke up yesterday to adopt. The salt therapy, which demands that
one should mix salt with hot water to bathe and also prepare same solution to
drink within minutes, went viral not only in Lagos but across the country where
fear-stricken residents besieged stores to buy bags of salt to prepare the therapy.
[…]
The Guardian [Nigeria]
10 August 2014
Written by
Charles Akpeji, Jalingo
NO fewer than four persons have been confirmed dead
and scores hospitalised in various private hospitals in Taraba State following
excessive consumption of salt which they erroneously believe deter the deadly
Ebola virus after text messages went viral Saturday in the state capital,
Jalingo, that salt water solution and bathing of same were anti-dote to the
disease. […]
The Guardian [Nigeria]
10 August 2014
Written by
Ali Garba, Bauchi
FOLLOWING rumors that people should bath with salt
water AND drink same for the prevention of Ebola, three people have died after
observing the exercise in Bauchi State. […]
The Guardian [Nigeria]
13 August 2014
Written by
Ejere Wynner
THE fear of the deadly Ebola virus, which has gripped
Lagosians on one part, is also boosting the sales of hand sanitizers, salt and
bitter kola as demand for these products has soared.
It was indeed unusual as people queued up in almost
every pharmacy and mini stores in Surulere, Lagos yesterday, to purchase of
hand sanitizer. It has been discovered that many people in Lagos are today
scared of body contact and warm greetings in form of handshakes. […]
Allafrica.com
17 August 2014
By Timothy Ajiboye
This Day
Contrary to allegations that the Ata Igala, Ameh Oboni
who is the president of Kogi State Council of Chiefs, instructed the people to
take the spiritual bath of salt and water as protection against the Ebola virus
Disease [EVD], the royal father has denied the allegation, saying it was an
attempt to tarnish his image by some mischievous elements. […]
Yahoo! News
29 August 2014
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Riots broke out in Guinea's
second-largest city Nzerekore over rumours that health workers had infected
people with the deadly Ebola virus, a Red Cross official and residents said on
Friday.
A crowd of young men, some armed with clubs and
knives, set up barricades across the southern city on Thursday and threatened
to attack the hospital before security forces moved in to restore order.
Gunshots were fired and several people were injured,
said Youssouf Traore, president of the Guinean Red Cross.
"A rumour, which was totally false, spread that
we had sprayed the market in order to transmit the virus to locals,"
Traore said. "People revolted and resorted to violence, prompting soldiers
to intervene." […]
IRIN
3 September 2014
By Kate Thomas
[…] Some international media reports have cast
Liberians as uneducated or ignorant rumour-mongers. But Susan Shepler, an
associate professor at American University and a specialist on education and
conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia, said it is easy to understand why many
Liberians tend to doubt government information.
“People are not acting out of ignorance, they’re
acting out of experience,” she told IRIN. “In Liberia people have historically
used community information and rumours as a way of getting information at times
when they weren’t sure whether to trust the government,” she said.
“Information was vital during Liberia’s conflict but
official sources were often so unreliable that people relied on informal
networks instead,” Shepler added. “At times the media and authorities reported
one thing and the rumour network said something else, and it turned out that
the rumours were right.” […]
DAKAR/NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) -
Leroy Ponpon doesn't know whether to lock himself in his flat in Monrovia
because of the deadly Ebola virus, or because he is gay. Christian churches'
recent linking of the two have made life hell for him and hundreds of other
gays. […]
The New Dawn [Liberia]
24 September 2014
Franklin Doloquee, Nimba County
Two Ebola patients, who died of the virus in separate
communities in Nimba County have reportedly resurrected in the county. The
victims, both females, believed to be in their 60s and 40s respectively, died
of the Ebola virus recently in Hope Village Community and the Catholic
Community in Ganta, Nimba. […]
New York Times
20 October 2014
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
In the month since a Liberian man infected with Ebola
traveled to Dallas, where he later died, the nation has marinated in a murky
soup of understandable concern, wild misinformation, political opportunism and
garden-variety panic. […]
Reuters
23 October 2014
By Misha Hussain
and Maria Caspani
Ghana Web
19 February 2015
The Food and Drugs
Authority (FDA) has dispelled rumours circulating on social media alleging that
it had confirmed Boko Haram inoculation of the Ebola virus into chalks in
Ghana.
In a press
statement released on February 19, 2015 and signed by the Deputy Chief
Executive (Food Safety Division), John Odame-Darkwah, the FDA stated
emphatically that the information is false and advised the general public to
disregard it.
The statement said
their attention was drawn to the allegation and misinformation going around
including the death of two teachers as a result of the inoculation. […]