Professor debunks Ebola myths

Luis Ayala Roundup Reporter

Ebola’s outbreak in the U.S. this year scared a lot of people, but not everything that’s been said about the virus has been true, according to Pierce College Assistant Professor of Life Sciences Margarethe Cooper.

Cooper spoke about the history, myths and fears of the virus at her “Dispelling the Myths About Ebola” presentation at Pierce on Thursday, Nov. 20, in the CFS Lecture Hall.

“It has people scared because it hit home,” Cooper said.

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People have blown Ebola out of proportion because of what they’ve seen in movies, including those about zombies, Cooper said.

“It is feeding into our fears, because of the media and movies that we have seen,” Cooper said. But Ebola won’t turn anyone into the undead.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in the Congo, known as Zaire at the time. A hunter thought he had Malaria, but actually had

Ebola. Needles that were used on him for his malaria treatment were reused on other patients, which was believed to have spread Ebola from him to other people.

The villages in the Congo struggled with transportation and sanitation, so the virus spread rapidly, Cooper said.

“I did not know how it was started, so this talk was very informative,” said microbiology major Maria Sanchez.