The Opposite of Denial: Social Learning at the Onset of the Ebola Emergency in Liberia

Figures & data

Table 1. Ebola cases and deaths, Liberia and West African region, August 2014

WHO report date	Total cases, Liberia	Total deaths, Liberia	Regional total cases	Regional total deaths
8/28/2014	1378	694	3052	1546
8/21/2014	972	576	2458	1346
8/15/2014	786	348	2115	1076
8/8/2014	554	294	1766	959
7/31/2014	329	156	1322	728
7/24/2014	224	127	1093	660
7/14/2014	142	88	888	539
6/24/2014	51	34	599	338

Fig. 1. Trends in community-reported beliefs and practices, Monrovia, Liberia, August 2014.

Table 2. Community-reported beliefs and practices, Monrovia, Liberia, August 2014

Increased acceptance of messages	Decreased acceptance of messages	No change
Beliefs
Bodily fluid; bleeding from pregnant women;	Bats and plums eaten by bats (fruit bats)
vomiting	Organ theft
Bush meat	Poisoned biscuits and candy; poisoned food
Shaking hands; bodily contact	People living in dirty communities^a
Conspiracy theory	Baboons and monkeys
Health workers cause Ebola
Poison in wells; chemicals in water
It’s not Ebola; we don’t believe Ebola exists; myth
Practices
More health communication initiatives to communicate risks	Avoid shaking handsPraying/having faith in God	Hand washingAvoid bush meat; cook food properly
Call a health team when you notice sickness or a strange death	Don’t play with monkeys and batsDon’t touch clothes or share clothes	Avoid body contactAvoid social and public gatherings
Don’t touch sick peopleTake sick people to the hospital	Avoid bodily fluid	Avoid kissing, bathing, or hugging dead bodies
Better equipping of health care workers
Quarantine; build more facilities; isolation centers; testing
Wash body with salt water

^a Clean communities was a part of government messaging.