Ebola Metaphor

The West African Ebola virus epidemic in 2014 through 2016 raised much concern due to the rapid spread of the disease and the impact on the people affected. It became the largest Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries and resulting in more than eleven thousand deaths worldwide. During the spread of the disease, there was much coverage by the media that portrayed the disease in a particular light. Multiple examples of news articles utilized language that compared the Ebola outbreak to a predator. This metaphor can have various social and psychological implications on the people affected by the disease and the response for the outbreak. The language of medicine frequently relies on metaphors in order to better communicate with

One particular news article from CNN illustrates this metaphor. In a June 2014 article titled “Ebola epidemic in West Africa ‘out of control’,” Danielle Dellorto describes the rapid spread and high infection rates of the disease at the time (Dellorto, 2014). Dellorto says the Ebola epidemic is a “violent killer” (Dellorto, 2014). The personification of the disease portrays it as an animal that is merciless and dangerous. A predator exists by preying on others, and is frequently imagined as a large, flesh-eating animal. One statement in the article reads, “Officials believe the wide footprint of this outbreak is partly because of the close proximity between the jungle where the virus was first identified and cities such as Conakry” (Dellorto, 2014). Use of the words “wide footprint” further perpetuate the metaphor of a predator by describing Ebola as a large physical entity. There are multiple instances where the author refers to the virus as “deadly” (Dellorto, 2014). The use of the predator metaphor clearly depicts the virus as a ruthless blood-thirsty animal, but an unintentional consequence is that humans, and in particular patients, are depicted as the helpless prey. They are innocent victims going about their business when they are attacked by the “deadly Ebola virus.” This creates public sympathy for the patients, but also strips them of the hope of surviving. According to the article, the death rate for this outbreak was roughly 60% (Dellorto, 2014), but everyone infected is seen as hopeless according to the metaphor. The 40% who do survive must also tolerate the attitudes of those around them, such as healthcare workers and physicians, who may speak and act as if there is no hope left for them. The author claims that the virus “shuts off the blood’s ability to clot” (Dellorto, 2014), giving the virus an active role as the predator. Like