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Twitter informed public of Ebola outbreak days before health officials
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News of the Ebola outbreak on Twitter reached millions of people 3 days before Nigerian health officials notified the public of the disease, according to researchers from Columbia University School of Nursing.
“Twitter adoption in African countries like Nigeria has been exponentially increasing, and it’s clear that Twitter is a useful resource for spreading breaking health news in these West African countries,” the researchers said in a press release. “The results of this analysis indicate how Twitter can be used to support early warning systems in outbreak surveillance efforts in settings where surveillance systems are not optional.”
Michelle Odlum
Michelle Odlum, EdD, MPH, and Sunmoo Yoon RN, PhD, analyzed more than 42,000 tweets mentioning Ebola in English during the early stage of the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria in 2014. They found that the first case of Ebola virus disease (EVD) was announced on Twitter on July 24 — 3 days before an official announcement of a probable case from the Nigerian Ministry of Health and 7 days before the CDC made its announcement. These tweets, which reached an audience of 1,196,793 on the first day, would eventually reach 120,574,549 people by July 30.
According to the researchers, there were four primary topics of concern discussed in the tweets during the first week of the outbreak. These included:
Sunmoo Yoon
- risk factors and causes of EVD;
- prevention education and health information about the disease;
- spread and location of EVD; and
- compassion for those affected.
“Twitter users sought information regarding transmission, infection, prevention, location and frequency,” Odlum and Yoon wrote. “Such content provides insight into targeted areas for health education mass dissemination.” – by John Schoen
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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