{"title":"Propagating Visions of a Forest Reservoir: A Supposed Zoonotic Outbreak in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana.","authors":"Freya L Jephcott","doi":"10.1080/01459740.2023.2166411","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>When examined closely, the backgrounds of some of the most widely cited origin stories for zoonotic disease outbreaks have been found to be irreconcilable with empirical data. Stated simply, these explanatory landscapes do not appear to have existed. Here, I present a detailed case study of one such fictional landscape, that of a monkey-filled forest which was identified as the source of a suspected zoonotic outbreak in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana in 2010. Taking my approach from cultural epidemiology, I elucidate the mechanisms by which this fictional landscape was constructed and transmitted among the professionals involved in the response.</p>","PeriodicalId":47460,"journal":{"name":"Medical Anthropology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medical Anthropology","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2023.2166411","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/1/24 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
When examined closely, the backgrounds of some of the most widely cited origin stories for zoonotic disease outbreaks have been found to be irreconcilable with empirical data. Stated simply, these explanatory landscapes do not appear to have existed. Here, I present a detailed case study of one such fictional landscape, that of a monkey-filled forest which was identified as the source of a suspected zoonotic outbreak in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana in 2010. Taking my approach from cultural epidemiology, I elucidate the mechanisms by which this fictional landscape was constructed and transmitted among the professionals involved in the response.
期刊介绍:
Medical Anthropology provides a global forum for scholarly articles on the social patterns of ill-health and disease transmission, and experiences of and knowledge about health, illness and wellbeing. These include the nature, organization and movement of peoples, technologies and treatments, and how inequalities pattern access to these. Articles published in the journal showcase the theoretical sophistication, methodological soundness and ethnographic richness of contemporary medical anthropology. Through the publication of empirical articles and editorials, we encourage our authors and readers to engage critically with the key debates of our time. Medical Anthropology invites manuscripts on a wide range of topics, reflecting the diversity and the expanding interests and concerns of researchers in the field.