Going viral? From zombies to Government plots to miracle cures... the Ebola crisis gives internet conspiracy theorists something to get their teeth into
- Outbreak being compared to Danny Boyle Film 28 Days Later
- Fake picture of 'first Ebola zombie' went viral over the internet last week
- Revealed to be a screen grab from another Zombie movie World War Z
- Theories being fuelled by stories of Ebola victims 'rising from the dead'
- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan called it a 'race-targeting bioweapon'
- World Health Organisation warns against bogus vaccines and cures
It
didn't take long. With the outbreak of a global health crisis on the
scale of the current Ebola epidemic, there was bound to be a flurry of
conspiracy theories.
And the internet's finest have been hard at work.
From
the prospect of the Ebola-based zombie horror film 28 Days Later
becoming reality to the US government deliberately releasing the virus,
there's plenty out there for the tin foil hat brigade to sink their
teeth into.
Scroll down for video
Hoax: This picture, which went viral
last week,; turned out to be nothing more than a screen grab from the
zombie film World War Z, starring Brad Pitt
Last
week a picture purporting to be that of the first Ebola 'Zombie' went
viral over the internet with the title 'Ebola victim back from the
dead'.
A
caption reads: 'For the first time in human history, confirmed footage
is captured of a man who scientists watched die from Ebola then only
several hours later, regain life and rise from the dead'.
It then cites Bible passage Isaiah 26:19-20: 'Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise.'
The picture was later revealed to be nothing more than a screenshot of an actor in the movie World War Z starring Brad Pitt.
The zombie hoax appears to have been inspired by several real-life reports of Ebola victims coming back from the dead.
One
story which appeared on the TheNewDawnLiberia.com website recently told
of two Ebola patients who died of the virus in separate communities
coming back to life two days later.
One conspiracy theory, which claims
the current Ebola strain is hybrid of Ebola and Rabies, has drawn
several comparisons with the 2002 Danny Boyle film 28 Days Later
Conspiracy? Many believe that the
Ebola virus was created in a laboratory by unscrupulous pharmaceutical
companies hoping to profit from the sale of vaccines
The
website reported: 'The late Dorris Quoi of Hope Village Community and
the second victim only identified as Ma Kebeh, said to be in her late
60s, were about to be taken for burial when they resurrected.
'Ma Kebeh had reportedly been in door for two nights without food and medication before her alleged death.'
Another
story from Liberia last week tells of a man thought to have died from
Ebola in the middle of a street who started waving his arms when funeral
workers arrived to pick up his body.
That
has led some to suggest that the virus is man-made and has been
designed either as a weapon or simply so pharmaceutical companies can
profit from selling vaccines and cures.
Some
users insist the current Ebola strain is hybrid of Ebola and Rabies,
drawing comparisons with the film 28 Days Later and raising the unlikely
prospect that the film's plot may become reality.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan claims Ebola is a 'race-targeting bioweapon created by white people'
In
the 2002 film directed by Danny Boyle, a highly contagious virus known
as the Rage virus is released after animal liberation activists break
into a laboratory where tests are being conducted on chimpanzees.
Scientists
in the movie were attempting to create an anger management drug and had
decided to use the Ebola virus as a delivery system.
But
Ebola mutates the drug, causing it to have the oppposite effect and
send people into fits of constant, uncontrollable rage with physical
symptoms resembling rabies - leading them to attack other humans and
pass on the virus at a rapidly increasing rate until only a small
minority have escaped infection.
Exponents of this theory point to research conducted
in 2012 by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID) which developed an Ebola vaccine based on the established
rabies virus vaccine.
The scientists first tested the vaccine on mice before moving on to monkeys and claim the research was extremely successful.
Speculation has been further fuelled by a 2012 report of a rabies-like virus that has all the symptoms of and lethality of Ebola and which killed two teenagers in Congo in 2009.
Believers of this theory warn people not to take the vaccine which will soon be rolled out.
In
the US, Firebrand Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan claims the
Ebola virus is a 'race-targeting bioweapon created by white people'.
He
says the US government 'has a desire for world depopulation' and is
intent on going about it by using bioweapons 'such as Ebola and AIDS,
which are race targeting weapons.'
He
wrote: 'There is a weapon that can be put in a room where there are
Black and White people, and it will kill only the Black and spare the
White, because it is a genotype weapon that is designed for your genes,
for your race, for your kind.
'This means that these wise scientists of death are making pathogens, which is something that can cause a disease.
'They
are creating this as a means of depopulating our planet of
undesirables, a process called culling the population. … So, if you are
poor and ignorant; if you are Black or Brown, you are being selected for
destruction.'
History: The Ebola virus as discovered in 1976 following major outbreaks that year in the Sudan and Zaire
Health
workers say the fight against the outbreak is being hindered by claims
of miracle cures such as rubbing limes and onions over your body and by
unscrupulous merchants selling bogus treatments.
The World Health Organisation has issued several warnings over bogus cures and precautionary measures.
In
Liberia healers have suggested rubbing the body with limes and onions
can combat the virus while across the region merchants are profiting
from the panic by selling fake Ebola vaccinations and cures.
One
rumour that has been widely circulated is that drinking saltwater can
prevent or cure the disease, an entirely false claim that is believed to
be responsible for the deaths of four people.
A
spokesman for WHO said: 'Another source of public misunderstanding,
especially in affected areas, comes from rumours on social media
claiming that certain products or practices can prevent or cure Ebola
virus disease.
'Decades
of scientific research have failed to find a curative or preventive
agent of proven safety and effectiveness in humans, though a number of
promising products are currently under development.
'All
rumours of any other effective products or practices are false. Their
use can be dangerous. In Nigeria, for example, at least two people have
died after drinking salt water, rumoured to be protective.'
Ebola
was discovered in 1976 following major outbreaks that year in the Sudan
and Zaire. In the 1990s, the disease saw a resurgence with an outbreak
in Gabon in 1994, followed by another in Zaire in 1995.
The
current outbreak, the worst in recorded history, began last December
and has killed more than 3,800 people mainly in West Africa and is
threatening to spread across Europe and the Americas.
Between 2000-2004, close to 500 people died from Ebola in Uganda, Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Sudan.
The vast majority of those deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered