埃博拉疫情防控：“肥皂桶挑戰”
A young man on camera names the person who’s challenged him to dump the contents of a bucket over his head. But in a twist on the ice bucket challenge, this man is soon drenched in frothy, soapy water — part of a campaign to raise awareness about Ebola prevention in West Africa.
Ivory Coast’s “Lather Against Ebola” campaign, catchy songs and comedy are being used by West Africans to educate people on how to avoid getting the deadly disease, which has infected more than 2,600 people and killed more than 1,400 in four countries across the region, according to the World Health Organization.
From Nigeria to Sierra Leone, songs and sketches have supplemented traditional media and government campaigns to educate the public about Ebola, which is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of infected people and can be partly contained by simple measures like regular hand-washing.
The “Lather Against Ebola” campaign was inspired by the ice bucket challenge that has generated tens of millions of dollars for the ALS Association, which raises money for Lou Gehrig’s disease research.
Ivorian blogger Edith Brou knew the ice bucket campaign was getting lots of attention and wanted to make it more relevant in her home country. Despite bordering Guinea and Liberia, two countries that have been hit hard by the Ebola outbreak, Ivory Coast has yet to record a single case, and Brou wants to keep it that way.
“Our greatest threat right now is Ebola,” she said.
Those who accept the “Lather Against Ebola” challenge — searchable on Twitter using its French name, #MousserContreEbola — are expected douse themselves with soapy water and hand out three bottles of hand sanitizer. Those who reject the soaking are expected to distribute nine. Since it launched on Aug. 18, dozens of participants have posted soap-soaking clips to social media.
“Ivorians take the drama out of everything through humor,” said Brou. “But in spite of the funny aspect of it, the message is forwarded on and listened to.”
Liberian rappers Shadow and D-12 recorded several Ebola-related tunes. Their hit song, “Ebola in Town,” was intended to counter early skepticism of the threat posed by the disease, which has infected more than 1,000 people in Liberia and killed at least 624. The disease has also his Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
“No touching! No eating something!” the rappers warn listeners, playing up the disease’s dangers. What the song lacks in specificity it more than makes up in catchiness.
Earlier this month, Liberian soccer star and former presidential candidate George Weah added his own song, “Ebola is Real,” to the line-up. In Sierra Leone, rapper Special C’s song “Ebola Does Not Discriminate” and music video portray the dangers of hiding sick patients, a practice Sierra Leone’s parliament outlawed last week because of its potential to spread the disease.在科特迪瓦阿比讓（Abidjan），一個年輕人對着鏡頭說出挑戰者的名字，並高舉水桶將水倒向自己——這並非冰桶挑戰，因爲溼透的年輕人身上是充滿泡沫的肥皂水——這是日前西非呼籲提高埃博拉預防意識運動的一部分。
在科特迪瓦進行的“泡沫抵禦埃博拉”運動中，西非人民用朗朗上口的歌曲和喜劇向大衆傳播如何預防這種致命疾病。根據世界衛生組織的數據，在西非四國中，已有超過2600人感染埃博拉病毒，死亡人數超過1400人。
從尼日利亞（Nigeria）到塞拉利昂（Sierra Leone），不論是在傳統媒體上，還是在政府發起的運動中，歌曲或漫畫正被用來向公衆宣傳埃博拉相關知識——埃博拉通過感染者的體液傳播，但像勤洗手這樣的簡單措施在一定程度上能保護自己免受傳染。
“泡沫抵禦埃博拉”運動從冰桶挑戰中汲取了靈感。目前，冰桶挑戰已爲側索硬化症協會（ALS Association）籌集了超過千萬美元，用於資助針對葛雷克氏症（Lou Gehrig’s disease）的研究。
科特迪瓦知名博主伊迪斯•布魯（EdithBrou）知道冰桶挑戰引起了很大的關注，因此她希望能通過這種活動爲自己的祖國做些什麼。儘管與兩個埃博拉疫情嚴重的國家——幾內亞（Guniea）和利比里亞（Liberia）接壤，科特迪瓦目前還未有感染案例，而布魯想讓這繼續下去。
布魯說：“我們目前最大的威脅就是埃博拉”。
“泡沫抵禦埃博拉”——它在推特（Twitter）上使用的是法文名字 “MousserContreEbola”，接受挑戰的人要將肥皂水倒在自己身上並捐出3瓶洗手液。不願被水澆溼的人則要捐出9瓶。從8月18日開始，已有數十位挑戰者將全身澆透肥皂水的影片放在社交媒體上。
“科特迪瓦人喜歡將每一件事情都灌輸上幽默二字”，布魯說，“除開這活動有趣的部分，更重要的是能夠傳達我們希望表達的信息，能讓更多人聽到。”
利比里亞的饒舌歌手Shadow和D-12錄製了幾首關於埃博拉的歌曲。他們最紅的歌曲——《埃博拉來了》（Ebola in Town）——原是爲了還擊早期對埃博拉帶來威脅的懷疑態度。目前在利比里亞，已有超過1000人感染埃博拉病毒，疾病造成至少624人死亡。幾內亞、塞拉利昂和尼日利亞均有埃博拉疫情。
“不要摸！不要吃！”——說唱歌手通過這樣的歌詞來警告聽衆警惕疾病的危險。儘管歌曲缺少具體說明，它並非只爲了易記而創作。
在本月早些時候，利比里亞足球明星和前任總統候選人喬治·維安（George Weah）在他自己的歌曲中加入了“埃博拉是真的”（Ebola is Real）這一句歌詞。在塞拉利昂，饒舌歌手Special C的歌曲《埃博拉是公平的》（Ebola does not discriminate）及其音樂錄影帶描繪了藏匿患病人員的危險性。塞拉利昂議會上週將“藏匿患病人員”定爲違法行爲，因爲該行爲非常有可能引發疾病傳播。
