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From 'Bio-Weapons' to Plane Crashes: 10 of the Oddest Ebola Theories Out There
Other | Wednesday 3rd December 2014 | Osh
The Ebola crisis in Western Africa has been accompanied by the Ebola stories epidemic on the web, with new items cropping up on an almost daily basis since the deadly outbreak began.
The nature of these stories ranges from sober medical pieces to conspiracy theories, hoaxes and 'miracle cures' among other, even stranger ideas. Which ones should be taken seriously and which should be scoffed at is for you to decide.
Here are ten of the most 'interesting' ideas about Ebola that have emerged...
1. You can catch Ebola from drinking water
Medical experts insist that human-to-human transmission of the virus is transmitted by direct physical contact with an infected person; and not through drinking the same water or breathing the same air. Which disproves one of the many scaremongering stories that's been doing the rounds - that airplane passengers can be infected through the air-con.
Ebola, say the experts, is not an easy disease to catch. For humans to contract the virus requires direct contact with bodily fluids, blood and secretions. But are the experts telling the truth? Or are the scare stories nothing more than websites trying to increase their traffic with attention-grabbing headlines on the world's most trending subject?
2. Ebola is a 'Bio-Weapon'
Anyone who knows conspiracy theory research knew that the 'Bio-Weapon' theory would come up virtually as soon as the word 'outbreak' was being used in the Ebola reports. It was actually a Liberian newspaper that called dibs on the bio-weapon theory, publishing an article in September that alleged the United States military unleashed the virus in Africa, but other commentators and conspiracy theorists followed quickly with similar accusations.
If it sounds like the stuff of sci-fi thrillers, bear in mind that no one disputes the existence of bio-weapons and bio-warfare. There remains highly plausible research to support the belief that the AIDS virus might have been man-made in the 1970s.
3. It's population control
A few weeks ago Chris Brown told his 13 million Twitter followers, “I think this Ebola epidemic is a form of population control.” Brown, of course, isn't an expert. But the idea of 'population control' has been a central and recurring theme in the conspiracy theory arena for a number of years, with deadly viruses, the triggering of natural disasters and the use of covert weather-control systems all being cited as techniques used to decrease the (over)population of the planet.
The argument goes that over-population is due to result an inevitable scarcity of the planet's resources and that the only way to ensure against this is population reduction; but that 1930s style genocide would never be tolerated by 21st century societies and modern liberal principles and that covert genocide is the only way to go about it.
4. Obama Sent Aid to Africa because of "slavery" guilt
Yeah, we're not sure we entirely understood this one either. But right-wing commentators in the US like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham have put out the idea that President Barak Obama had 'risked American lives' sending assistance to Africa because of his alleged guilt over slavery and Colonialism. Not really a theory; just a really weird, slightly nonsensical statement.
5. It's the Pharmaceutical Industry
According to this theory, health officials are conspiring with the big pharmaceutical companies to deliberately spread (and then eventually cure) Ebola as a vast profit-making enterprise. You know, that one actually sounds a little plausible; you know, if you squint your eye and look at it in the right light, that is. Corporate conspiracies always seem to have the ring of truth to them.
The accusations claim that the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention patented the virus and is set to make a fortune from a new vaccine it has created with various major players in the pharmaceutical industry.
6. Ebola is a hoax to impose Martial Law on US Citizens
In an interview with the Iranian news channel Press TV, a Professor James Henry Fetzer said, “The situation with Ebola is very strange indeed, because there are multiple indications that it’s some kind of fraud or hoax or scam being perpetrated on the American people.”
This idea that the whole thing is a 'false flag' crisis being used to impose new restrictions on Americans has gathered a lot of momentum on US-based conspiracy websites. Though calling the deaths of thousands of people in Western Africa a 'hoax' seems a bit distasteful.
Not that powerful institutions in America would be incapable of mass deception, but you would wonder why thousands of dead victims in West Africa would lead to Martial Law in the US. Surely 9/11 was the time to be bringing in Martial Law. Then again, if the US government begins imposing travel bans and quarrantines on a larger scale, who knows where it could lead?
7. It's all about the 'Imperialist Agenda' in Africa
The United States is using the Ebola epidemic to advance its interests in West Africa. A civil rights activist and journalist in Detroit, Abayomi Azikiwe, forwarded this idea. The editor of the Pan-African News Wire based the claim primarily on Barak Obama's announcement that the US military is to be involved in combating the outbreak in Western Africa on the grounds that it constitutes a 'national security concern'. Mr Azikiwe said he believed this to be "just another means for US military intelligence's deeper penetration of the African continent."
Far-fetched? Paranoid? Maybe. But then let's remind ourselves of the pantomime played out in Iraq (which is still going on now with Islamic State). And the farce that was the 2011 'intervention' in Libya. You wouldn't know it from mainstream news media, but many African leaders are still angry about what the US and NATO did to Gadaffi and Libya and the view is gaining currency that the US has Colonial-style ambitions not just in the Middle East but in Africa too. In this context, a health epidemic in Africa that also happens to threaten the US gives them the perfect platform for mass deployment and involvement in Africa.
8. Many Ebola experts were killed aboard Malaysian Flight MH-17 in Ukraine
This one, bizarre as it sounds, isn't BS at all. It was one of the strangest aspects of that story even at the time - and this was months before the current Ebola crisis began. But yes, aboard that plane that was shot down over the Ukraine were a number of leading AIDS and Ebola experts. The conspiracy theory in this regard is that they were deliberately wiped out ahead of the 'planned' Ebola outbreak to ensure it would be more difficult for a cure to be quickly found.
Among the victims was Glenn Thomas, Director of Communiations of the World Health Organisation, and a leading expert in AIDS and the Ebola Virus, who was on his way to a high-profile AIDS conference in Australia. There are rumors that Thomas knew about bio-weapons research on the Ebola virus taking place at the Kenema Hospital in Sierra Leone and that vaccines were being administered to locals under the guise of a "precautionary test" - a test that was actually administering Ebola to people in Sierra Leone (which is where this epidemic first broke out).
9. The Miracle Cures!
From 'home-made vaccines' to homeopathy, there's been no shortage of amateur 'experts' trying to do their part to help (or to confuse). Some sites will tell you high doses of Vitamin C will cure Ebola. That's right, a simple glass of orange will do it. The website NaturalHealth365 in particular pushes this solution, though it also happens of course to be a sales pitch for specific Vitamin C products.
There's actually a man named Peter Chappell who runs a site called Boosters4Africa claiming that his violin music can treat Ebola. Absurdities like this can have a novelty value sometimes, but there is a point where it just becomes plain offensive.
And naturally no 'cure' story would be complete without remembering that Cannabis Will Save You! No, seriously, it won't. While we'd be the last to deny the various health benefits and values of marijuana, if you believed everything you read online you'd think cannabis was the solution to every possible problem on earth. Hey it's good; but not that good.
10. Ebola is the world's deadliest disease and is "uncontrollable"
Since the first reported cases of the disease in 1976, there have been at least 25 known 'outbreaks' of the Ebola virus: they have all eventually been contained. The main reason most experts believe it has spread as rapidly as it has in Western Africa right now is because of the lack of medical resources and infrastructure in the region. Were it to hit a country like ours or the US, the spread of the disease would be manageable.
The idea reported by some that Ebola is the deadliest disease in the world is also false. Though the current outbreak has claimed thousands of lives, it is by no means the deadliest disease in Africa, let alone the world. HIV, malaria, diarrhea and many other infectious illnesses all are bigger killers than Ebola. Rather it seems that mainstream media organisations - especially in the US - have been deliberately trying to create an artificial panic; which, in America, has certainly worked. The often manic way Ebola is being covered in US media and radio talk-shows has a slightly apocalyptic tone to it, far in excess of the true actual level of threat to US citizens.
