Uganda: Ebola Count Rises to 35, First Doctor Dies

Photo: fox

The Facts

  • Ugandan officials said on Saturday that a Tanzanian doctor has been the first health care professional in the country to die from the latest Ebola outbreak. The caseload has now increased to at least 35 people. Fears are rising of a serious outbreak on the horizon.

  • Seven people - including the doctor - have already died from the virus. A vaccine for the current spreading strain hasn't yet been found.


The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

This current outbreak is a serious health risk to the nations of Central Africa. Ebola is a highly lethal disease, and the fact that there is no well-tested vaccine for this strain makes the stakes even higher. Outbreaks are difficult to contain, and dealing with the spread of Ebola must be a top priority for regional and international bodies.

Establishment-critical narrative

As history proves, the media has a penchant for exaggerating the risks that infectious diseases like Ebola pose to the world. Obviously, this is serious, but politicians and media entities have a habit of exploiting public health emergencies for their own ends, like a mass panic regarding Ebola in 2014. The international community has plenty of tools to handle flare-ups like this.

Nerd narrative

There's a 12% chance that there will be a novel pathogen that kills over 25 million people between 2022 and 2031(inclusive), according to the Metaculus prediction community.


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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