Sams K, Grant C, Desclaux A, Sow K, 2022. "Disease X and Africa How a Scientific Metaphor Entered Popular Imaginaries of the Online Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic". Medicine Anthropology Theory, 9 (2) : 1-28.

Comment citer (référence de la revue ou celle que vous souhaitez voir reproduite) Sams Kelley, Grant Catherine, Desclaux Aline, Sow Koudhia, 2022. "Disease X and Africa How a Scientific Metaphor Entered Popular Imaginaries of the Online Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic". Medicine Anthropology Theory, 9 (2) : 1-28. ⟨hal-03655199⟩, https://doi.org/10.17157/mat.9.2.5611
Type de publication
  • Article scientifique
Date de publication 28.04.2022
Court résumé In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the addition of Disease X, a hypothetical infectious threat, to its blueprint list of priority diseases. In the construction of discourse that circulated following this announcement, conceptions of Disease X intersected with representations of Africa. In our article, we share a broad strokes analysis of internet narratives about Disease X and Africa in the six months before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (July–December 2019) and during its first six months (January–June 2020). Our analysis focuses on how the scientific concept of Disease X was applied by ‘non-experts’ to make meaning from risk, uncertainty, and response. These non-experts drew in parallel upon more general representations of power, fear, and danger. This research is particularly relevant at the time of writing, as online narratives about COVID-19 vaccination are shaping vaccine anxiety throughout the world by drawing upon similar conceptions of agency and inequality. Because Disease X in Africa still looms as a perceived future threat, considering the narratives presented in this paper can provide insight into how people create meaning when faced with a scientific concept, a global health crisis, and the idea that there are other crises yet to come.
Mots clés - Appuyer sur la touche "Entrée" pour séparer les mots-clefs Covid-19 Disease X Social media Vaccination
Lien vers la publication http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/5611
Epidémie concernée
  • Covid-19
  • Autres
Url PDF (si disponible) http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/5611