3 ms·

In 2004, Somoto canyon in Nicaragua was ‘discovered’ by Czech scientists despite the fact that it’s surrounded by farmland and has a fairly large stream/river r

• watwut 7y ago
  Those two stories are different. One is being first Czech who found it for "western civilization" despite farmland of unrelated people being there. Another is receiving blood samples from someone and leaving that someone out of story, because quoting Piot who ended up having credit "at the time of that first Ebola outbreak, African scientists were simply excluded". Moreover it has consequences: "During this outbreak, Muyembe has also made a decision many thought unthinkable even a few years ago. He decided that all of the blood samples collected during this Ebola epidemic will stay in Congo. Anyone who wants to study this outbreak will have to come to his institute. American scientists, who have led the way in studying Ebola, have privately expressed frustrations. But Piot says the decision was obviously made because of how African scientists have been treated. Western scientists, he says, should get over it." I think that when you are making the "local farmers" assumption, you are assuming that Muyembe did not had the "real" involvement in research as Piot. There is no reason to assume that.