Anthropology of rumors surrounding the Ebola virus disease

This study questions the foundations and logic behind the construction of rumors in a social context saturated with an ＂abundance＂ of official discourse relating to the Ebola virus disease epidemic. Investigations conducted in Tabou, a town in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, reveal five types of rumors circulating in society. These include rumors denying the existence of the disease, conspiracy theories, rumors of foreign involvement, rumors of therapies, and rumors of political arrangements. These rumors about Ebola have spread widely and are sufficiently dispersed throughout society. They have spread through affinity groups in places that are regularly frequented. These interpretations of the disease are rooted in social imaginaries shaped by postcolonial resentment, as well as more recent social and political history.