Early responses to H7N9 in southern Mainland China

Robin Goodwin,Shaojing Sun

doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-8

Robin Goodwin, Shaojing Sun

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-14-8

Copy DOI

Abstract

BackgroundH7N9 posed potentially serious health challenges for Chinese society. The previous SARS outbreak in this country was accompanied by contradictory information, while worries about wide-spread influenza led to discrimination worldwide. Early understanding of public threat perceptions is therefore important for effective public health communication and intervention.MethodsWe interviewed 1011 respondents by phone two weeks after the first case. Questions examined risk awareness and media use, beliefs about the emergence of the threat and those most at risk, anxiety about infection and preventive and avoidant behaviours.ResultsResults demonstrate moderate levels of anxiety but relatively high levels of trust towards government officials. Threat emergence was associated with hygiene levels, temperature change, floating pigs in the Huangpu River and migration to the city. Anxiety predicted both recommended and non-recommended behavioural changes.ConclusionsComparatively high levels of trust in Chinese government advice about H7N9 contrast positively with previous pandemic communications in China. Anxiety helped drive both recommended and non-recommended behaviours, with potentially important economic and social implications. This included evidence of 'othering’ of those associated with the threat (e.g. migrants). Findings emphasise the need to manage public communications early during new influenza outbreaks.

Highlights

H7N9 posed potentially serious health challenges for Chinese society
The coincidence of the new H7N9 threat and the wide-spread reporting on the social media site Weibo of thousands of diseased pigs floating in a river key to Shanghai’s water supply led to a municipal government press release denying any link [10]
There was some evidence of stigmatisation and the ‘othering’ of those associated with the threat

Summary

Introduction

H7N9 posed potentially serious health challenges for Chinese society. The previous SARS outbreak in this country was accompanied by contradictory information, while worries about wide-spread influenza led to discrimination worldwide. Communication between provincial localities and bureaucratic departments was poor, and a lack of formal organisation meant poor provision of public health information, partly as a result of a separation between military and public healthcare [3]. It was not until SARS had spread to several neighbouring countries. Poor ventilation, unsanitary practices at markets and by chicken sellers [7], and the transport of poultry on long distance roads [11], was associated with a previous outbreak of H5N1. In this paper we consider associations between H7N9 and ‘floating pigs’, new migrants, the poultry trade and wider temperature and climactic change

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion