​Disease X and Africa: How a Scientific Metaphor Entered Popular Imaginaries of the Online Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the addition of Disease X, a hypothetical infectious threat, to its blueprint list of priority diseases. In the construction of discourse that circulated following this announcement, conceptions of Disease X intersected with representations of Africa. In our article, we share a broad strokes analysis of internet narratives about Disease X and Africa in the six months before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (July–December 2019) and during its first six months (January–June 2020). Our analysis focuses on how the scientific concept of Disease X was applied by ‘non-experts’ to make meaning from risk, uncertainty, and response. These non-experts drew in parallel upon more general representations of power, fear, and danger. This research is particularly relevant at the time of writing, as online narratives about COVID-19 vaccination are shaping vaccine anxiety throughout the world by drawing upon similar conceptions of agency and inequality. Because Disease X in Africa still looms as a perceived future threat, considering the narratives presented in this paper can provide insight into how people create meaning when faced with a scientific concept, a global health crisis, and the idea that there are other crises yet to come.

Global narratives on unequal outcomes produced by lockdown in Africa: A social science perspective on the “one-size-fits all” COVID-19 response

“…An emerging body of evidence has reported the use of social media to share knowledge about health issues including COVID-19 ( 36 – 40 ). The findings of the research presented in this article show that there were many different competing narratives on Twitter during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns in sub-Saharan Africa.…”

Operationalising transdisciplinary remote methods in epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Ethnography gathers local wisdom, and using a transdisciplinary approach could enable this to brought into policy and operationalised to improve preparedness and response. Taking time to develop these methods can help to prepare for 'Disease X' (an unknown pathogen that could cause a serious international epidemic) and other future outbreaks when they appear, as having these methods ready will enable fast response (13).…”

The centrality of (mis)trust in pandemic preparedness in Sub-Saharan Africa: a conceptual framework

“…Once these policy considerations have been made, the challenge then moves towards replacing 'wrong' with 'right' information, in world that is increasingly connected by social media and technology, and restoring perceived lack of trust in public health institutions. A shift in the COVID-19 pandemic was the idea that the public face an excess of information and are vulnerable to mis-and disinformation and there needs to be 'infodemic management' (Grant & Sams 2023, Sams et al 2022. Whilst social media use was also widespread during previous outbreaks, for example, Ebola, Zika, and Nipah, the lack of human contact during the lockdowns made it an even more important connection (Grant & Sams 2023).…”