PMC:7100305 / 41415-43632 JSONTXT

{"project":"2_test","denotations":[{"id":"32226719-24761977-45162423","span":{"begin":281,"end":285},"obj":"24761977"},{"id":"32226719-26911164-45162424","span":{"begin":294,"end":298},"obj":"26911164"},{"id":"32226719-21847845-45162425","span":{"begin":950,"end":954},"obj":"21847845"},{"id":"32226719-27070380-45162426","span":{"begin":1170,"end":1174},"obj":"27070380"},{"id":"32226719-27093860-45162427","span":{"begin":1191,"end":1195},"obj":"27093860"},{"id":"32226719-28282378-45162428","span":{"begin":1268,"end":1272},"obj":"28282378"},{"id":"32226719-25719680-45162429","span":{"begin":1522,"end":1526},"obj":"25719680"},{"id":"32226719-26604778-45162430","span":{"begin":1556,"end":1560},"obj":"26604778"},{"id":"32226719-25632955-45162431","span":{"begin":1618,"end":1622},"obj":"25632955"},{"id":"T65007","span":{"begin":281,"end":285},"obj":"24761977"},{"id":"T73803","span":{"begin":294,"end":298},"obj":"26911164"},{"id":"T49901","span":{"begin":950,"end":954},"obj":"21847845"},{"id":"T405","span":{"begin":1170,"end":1174},"obj":"27070380"},{"id":"T55357","span":{"begin":1191,"end":1195},"obj":"27093860"},{"id":"T40860","span":{"begin":1268,"end":1272},"obj":"28282378"},{"id":"T45425","span":{"begin":1522,"end":1526},"obj":"25719680"},{"id":"T5749","span":{"begin":1556,"end":1560},"obj":"26604778"},{"id":"T51834","span":{"begin":1618,"end":1622},"obj":"25632955"}],"text":"Attribution of Infectious Disease Responsibility\nThe review clearly showed the consistency in the scholarly literature, that it is common to find that complex issues are oversimplified, whereby culture is used to justify the assigning of blame to minority groups (Leach and Tadros 2014; Lupton 2016). The review highlighted the role of politics and power in shaping different narratives, whereby powerful institutions assert particular narratives (often marginalizing the populations), which are “pushed” to frame policies, publications, interventions, and funding agendas, while the narratives of the marginalized populations (those voiced by or representing marginalized people) are marginalized (Mykhalovskiy and Weir 2005). This type of outbreak narrative was evident in the three epidemics discussed in this paper. In Toronto, SARS became a racialized disease, ultimately victimizing and excluding the Asian-Canadian community (Jacobs 2007; Ali 2008). The spread of the Zika virus in Brazil is largely attributed to the consequences of globalization, including the widening habitat of the Aedes mosquito vector and increased human and air travel (Plourde and Bloch 2016; Gyawali et al. 2016; Fast et al. 2015; World Health Organization 2017e; Ordaz-Németh et al. 2017). Cultural explanations are prominent in the outbreak narrative speaking to Ebola in Liberia, specifically the human consumption of bush meat and local/traditional burial practices that involve the touching and kissing of the deceased (Hagan et al. 2015; Kobayashi et al. 2015; Phua 2015; World Health Organization 2017c; Washington and Meltzer 2015; Ng 2008).\nWhen responsibility for the origin of the epidemic is reduced to cultural and ethnic minority groups, for example, the Asian community during the SARS epidemic, South American women living in poverty during the Zika epidemic, and communities engaging in traditional Liberian cultural practices during the Ebola epidemic, this further marginalizes the already vulnerable populations. It is important that emphasis is placed on the extreme vulnerability of these groups to an infectious disease outbreak, rather than placing blame and ultimately exacerbating experiences of oppression."}