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Ebola handshake going strong as Ebola cases decrease

By Amy R. Connolly
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Dr. Peter Graaff, the World Health Organization's representative in Liberia, are among the first to publicly use the Ebola handshake. It's a trend that's catching on. Photo US Embassy Monrovia/Facebook
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Dr. Peter Graaff, the World Health Organization's representative in Liberia, are among the first to publicly use the Ebola handshake. It's a trend that's catching on. Photo US Embassy Monrovia/Facebook

MONROVIA, Liberia, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Even with the Ebola epidemic slowly waning, the Ebola handshake is going strong.

When this new form of salutation was introduced in disease-torn west Africa in October, it was considered yet another way to temper the Ebola epidemic. Today, bumping elbows, hitting arms and knocking shoes -- each considered an Ebola handshake -- is the new normal, especially among young men.

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It's not a trend that's going away anytime soon. As the three hardest hit nations -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- cope with the aftermath of Ebola, some are considering new ways to institute safer health practices. In parts of hard-hit Sierra Leone, where some 3,000 have died from Ebola, the handshake is law.

"We have instituted bylaws that discourage people from [unhygienic] cultural and traditional practices that have been condemned by authorities in order to end Ebola," said Pa Alimamy Bongo, section chief of the Rokupa community in Sierra Leone. "So for now, if we catch any member of our community shaking hands, we will levy a fine of 250,000 leone ($50)."

The Ebola handshake came to popularity as a way to slow the spread of the disease but also allow locals to continue a traditional greeting.

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In Liberia, the finger-snap handshake was considered a warm embrace to friends. The new handshake is taking some getting used to.

"In our towns and villages, if you do not shake hands with that click sound it means you are not welcome. They will call you to ask what they have done to you. Some people will even take you to the council of elders and say this person did not shake my hand properly. It looks like he has something against me", former Liberian Information Minister and Historian Emmanuel Bowier said.

The Ebola handshake has even spread beyond the borders of Africa. Earlier this month, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was seen using the Ebola handshake.

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