Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: We describe the enhanced rumor surveillance during the avian influenza H5N1 outbreak in 2004.The World Health Organization's Western Pacific Regional Office identified 40 rumors; 9 were verified to be true.Rumor surveillance informed immediate public health action and prevented unnecessary and costly responses.I n January 2004, 14 persons in Vietnam were admitted to provincial hospitals with severe respiratory illness (1).Avian influenza H5N1 was detected in samples from 3 of these patients.Health officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) were concerned, as these were sporadic cases of an influenza strain that normally infects birds exclusively (2).Furthermore, little was known about the extent of the outbreak, its potential for international spread, and the possible evolution of a pandemic influenza strain.WHO issued an international public health alert on January 13, 2004, to inform the world about the outbreak (1).News of the outbreak led to international anxiety and the propagation of unofficial outbreak reports or disease rumors (3).These rumors could have led countries to impose trade and travel restrictions with negative social, economic, and health consequences (3,4).To protect both the international community and the affected countries, WHO introduced enhanced rumor surveillance for reports of avian influenza H5N1, a process of investigating unofficial reports of disease events to determine their veracity.Rumor surveillance aims to decrease the potential for misinformation and misunderstanding and to inform the public and health officials about disease outbreaks, facilitate a rapid response, and promote public health preparedness (3).Rumor surveillance is a passive process, where rumors are identified from media reports, professional groups, the public, and persons in the WHO network, which is made up of WHO headquarters, country offices, and WHO Collaborating Centers.In an enhanced system, rumor sur-
Source: Emerging infectious diseases
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Australian National University
OpenAlex ID: W1991991986