Ebola, culture, and politics : the anthropology of an emerging disease / Barry S. Hewlett, Washington State University, Bonnie L. Hewlett, Washington State University.

Belmont, CA : Thomson Wadsworth, [2008]

viii, 183 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Foreword -- Preface -- 1. Images and first contact -- What is ebola? -- First contact -- What is culture? -- Key questions -- Organization of the book -- What's new -- Terminology -- 2. Outbreak ethnography : the anthropologist's toolkit -- Field conditions -- The relationship between theory and methods -- What did we do in the field? -- 3. Indigenous knowledge about epidemics : Uganda 2000-2001 -- Background on Ugandan outbreak -- Cultural models -- Issues of concern to national and international teams -- Intracultural variability -- Conclusions -- 4. Providing humanitarian care : Congo 2003 -- Background on Congo outbreak -- First days in the field -- Cultural models -- Issues of concern to national and international teams -- Intracultural variability -- Conclusion -- 5. Facing death and stigmatization : healthcare workers and survivors -- Nurses and other healthcare workers -- Survivors -- Conclusion --

6. Ebola outbreaks, past and present -- Yambuku, DR Congo (1976) -- Kikwit, DR Congo (1995) -- Yambio, Sudan (2004) -- Conclusion -- 7. Outbreak control -- Beliefs and practices within the community -- Beliefs and practices from outside the community -- Conclusions -- 8. Explaining human responses to acute high-mortality epidemics -- Anthropological and historical studies of human responses to epidemics -- An evolutionary biocultural model -- Conclusions -- 9. Policy, bioterrorism, and bird flu -- Policy issues -- Ebola as a bioterrorist weapon and the threat of a bird flu pandemic -- Reflections -- Appendix A -- Appendix B -- References cited -- Index.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-177) and index.