Lay perceptions of emerging infectious diseases: a commentary

COVID-19 and Masking Disparities: Qualitative Analysis of Trust on the CDC's Facebook Page

This exploratory paper examines individual levels of risk assessment as impacting institutional trust in the CDC while also contributing to disparities in expressed willingness to mask early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Using both content and thematic analysis of the CDC's Facebook (FB) page from April 2020 and Gidden's modern risk society theory, I consider how social media (SM) users retrospectively perceived a dramatic change in public health (PH) advisory-from the CDC advising against masking in February 2020 (Time 1) to advising the use of "do-it-yourself" (DIY) cloth masking in April 2020 (Time 2)-through a lens of prior, self-guided research. Expressed "knowledge" of masking as preventative (or not) yielded unwavering and sometimes increasing distrust in the CDC based on user perception of the "correct" advisory, regardless of the CDC's position at Time 1 or Time 2. Simultaneously, disparities in masking behaviors appeared to be driven not by CDC guidance but by this same self-guided research. I show this via three themes: (1) claims of ineffectiveness for DIY masking (do not trust CDC now-no masking from the start); (2) conflict between the first and second CDC advisories on masking (do not trust CDC-either already masking anyway or will now); (3) disappointed in the CDC for length of time taken to make a DIY mask recommendation (do not trust CDC-either already masking anyway or will mask now). I discuss the imperative nature of two-way engagement with SM users by PH rather than using SM as a one-way mode of advisory dissemination. This and other recommendations may decrease disparities in preventative behaviors based on individual-level risk assessment as well as increase institutional trust and transparency.

Geographic charisma and the potential energy of Ebola

The Ebola virus is unparalleled in its charismatic ability to ignite fear, anxiety and disgust at a scale grossly disproportionate to the number of lives it claims. As an archetypal 'Emerging Infectious Disease' (EID), this designation and the politics that have encircled it have provided Ebola with a conceptual space in which epidemiology and geography to splice together in the genesis and maintenance of its charismatic valence. Even before the West African outbreak of 2013-2016, Ebola was an 'exceptional' and 'master status' disease around which media attention mobilised to an unparalleled degree and effect. This paper argues that even if never directly conceptualised as such, Ebola is uniquely charismatic among EIDs and, more, this charisma can be understood geographically. To do so, the paper proceeds in three parts to explore how Ebola's geographic charisma emerges from: (i) it being fixed 'in place' as something innately African; (ii) fears about the virus moving 'out of place' and (iii) its 'potential energy' or the persistent unease generated by the uncertainty of when and where the virus's potential geographies will become actual.

A discourse analysis of Ebola in South African newspapers (2014–2015)

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in three African states transformed the virus into a social reality in which media representations contributed to globalised hysteria and had rhetorical effects. This study investigated representations of the Ebola virus/disease in South African news reports (March 2014–June 2015). Four discourses were found to operate within the globalised social context: threat to humanity, predation, invasion, and conspiracy. The South African reportage framed Ebola as a predator and criminal rather than using stock warfare imagery. Representations indicated alignment with phobic high-income countries and colonial hegemony.

Performativity and a microbe: Exploring Mycobacterium bovis and the political ecologies of bovine tuberculosis

Mycobacterium bovis, the bacterium responsible for causing bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle, displays what I call ‘microbial performativity’. Like many other lively disease-causing microorganisms, it has an agency which is difficult to contain, and there is a need for fresh thinking on the challenges of dealing with this slippery and indeterminate microbe. As a practising veterinary scientist who side-stepped mid-career into a parallel training in the social sciences to view bTB from an alternative perspective, I create an interdisciplinary coming-together where veterinary science converges with a political ecology of (animal) health influenced by science and technology studies (STS) and social science and humanities scholarship on performativity. This suitably hybridized nexus creates a place to consider the ecologies of a pathogen which could be considered as life out of control. I consider what this means for efforts to eradicate this disease through combining understandings from the published scientific literature with qualitative interview-based fieldwork with farmers, veterinarians and others involved in the statutory bTB eradication programme in a high incidence region of the UK. This study demonstrates the value of life scientists turning to the social sciences to re-view their familiar professional habitus—challenging assumptions, and offering alternative perspectives on complex problems.

Awareness, concern and willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours: public perceptions of invasive tree pests and pathogens in the UK

The growing incidence of invasive tree pest and disease outbreaks is recognised as an increasing threat to ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Linked to global trade, human movement and climate change, a number of outbreaks have attracted high public and media attention. However, there is surprisingly little evidence characterising the nature of public attentiveness to these events, nor how publics might respond to evolving outbreaks and the management actions taken. This paper presents findings from an online questionnaire involving 1334 respondents nationally-representative of the British public to assess awareness, concern and willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours. Despite revealing low levels of awareness and knowledge, the results indicate that the British public is concerned about the health of trees, forests and woodlands and is moderately willing to adopt biosecure behaviours. A key finding is that membership of environmental organisations and strong place identity are likely to engender higher awareness and levels of concern about tree pests and diseases. Further, those who visit woodlands regularly are likely to be more aware than non-visitors, and gardeners are more likely to be concerned than non-gardeners. Women, older respondents, those with strong place identity and dependence, members of environmental organisations, woodland visitors and gardeners were most likely to express a willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours. A comparison with findings from a survey conducted by the authors 3 years previously shows a decline over time in awareness, concern and willingness.

Public media communications about H1N1, risk perceptions and immunization behaviours: A Quebec-France comparison

During the H1N1 pandemic, governments tailored their communications plans in order to influence risk perception and promote public compliance with the public health plan measures. Considering the volume and the content of calls to flu information centres as indicators of the public risk perception, this mixed method study compares the relation between public communications, risk perception and immunization behaviour in Quebec and France. Results suggest that advocating for clear information and coordination between health authorities and the media promotes adherence to preventive behaviour. However, over-exaggerating the risks and minimizing the population's agency may undermine health authority credibility.