’Why didn’t you see it coming?’: Surveillance by and in the media—Journalistic research on outbreak detection taking the example of Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda and West Africa

Abstract

Purpose: A package of papers, “Avis de décès 2013/2014”: This I found at the radio station in Guéckédou/Guinea, close to the village where the spill-over of the Ebola virus had occurred. When the outbreak was detected in 03/2014, scientists and journalists arrived to trace the transmission chain of the virus. However, I went there to reconstruct the transmission chain of information: who had known what when? I also went to Uganda to see how the country had set up a completely new surveillance system after its first, severest Ebola outbreak. For me as a science journalist focusing on NTD, Global Health, Health Systems in LMIC, the purpose of this project was double-pronged: To inform the public: Surveillance and IHR are technical terms, difficult to illustrate to lay persons. But it is important and possible to do so. To correct misperceptions: The WHO and others were blamed for taking action too late during the early stages of the outbreak. But to be able to respond to an outbreak, organizations have to know that a potential public health emergency is occurring somewhere. Methods & Materials: Scientific approach: fieldwork in Uganda, Guinea; methods from social sciences, epidemiology, e.g. interviews with key persons, observational studies; triangulating collected data. Journalistic materials: audio/video recordings, photography. Results: In retrospect, it became obvious that the EVD outbreak in Guinea could have been detected earlier—if the information chain hadn’t been interrupted. Radio documentary: 27 min, manuscript: http://bit.ly/1YnzADF, audio: bit.ly/1UQBgZ6; Online multimedia story: 30 min, manuscript: bit.ly/1RP0Cq0, pageflow: http://bit.ly/1lTDvMH; both published by the German public radio news channel Deutschlandfunk on the occasion of the second anniversary of the death of “Patient Zero”. Conclusion: Journalists are strategic interlocutors in outbreak detection initiatives and IHR. They can contribute to surveillance structures or adopt a kind of epidemiological role. And sometimes journalists can even help to improve surveillance systems: After my stories were broadcast, I received a call: “The CDC in Guinea had no idea what the CDC in Uganda had done for the surveillance system and how well outbreak detection now works there. The people in Conakry just heard of your work and now reconsider their plans.”