On the one hand, this is the classic story of colonialism: that the "winners" write the history books. There are likely thousands of stories like this, not the least of which in the woefully exploited African continent.
On the other hand, "discovery" is a nebulous term, and plenty of discoveries have inconclusive origins. Why would we call this doctor the discoverer and not the first hospital workers to encounter the disease? Neither knew what it was, both groups thought it something new. Same with the Belgian researcher, (contestedly) named the discoverer.
Identifying a disease is the kind of thing that's not going to come from one cook in the kitchen. I'm glad this guy is getting recognition, it sounds like he's a noble person who played a critical role in uncovering Ebola and leading to its present level of controllability.
Most philosophical and scientific concepts have concurrent or disparate discoverers or inventors. And even those that don't have borrowed so much from precedent that you can often make the case the discovery was previously made.
On the other hand, "discovery" is a nebulous term, and plenty of discoveries have inconclusive origins. Why would we call this doctor the discoverer and not the first hospital workers to encounter the disease? Neither knew what it was, both groups thought it something new. Same with the Belgian researcher, (contestedly) named the discoverer.
Identifying a disease is the kind of thing that's not going to come from one cook in the kitchen. I'm glad this guy is getting recognition, it sounds like he's a noble person who played a critical role in uncovering Ebola and leading to its present level of controllability.
Most philosophical and scientific concepts have concurrent or disparate discoverers or inventors. And even those that don't have borrowed so much from precedent that you can often make the case the discovery was previously made.