Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Figure 15.4
Number of outbreak reports by country in the open media for January 1, 2008, to December 31,
2008. The curve represents the distribution of news in the top 31 most frequently mentioned
countries divided by the total number of news reports for all 31 countries.
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Figure 15.5
Distribution of outbreak reports by disease in the open media for January 1, 2008 to December
31, 2008. The curve represents the distribution of news in the top 31 most frequently mentioned
diseases divided by the total number of news reports for all 31 diseases.
H1N1 and influenza before WHO made its first official announcement. Given
the delays in setting up laboratory tests for a novel virus, this supports previous
observations in the literature that news rumors can support advanced warning
of international events. It is important to remember though, that the results
we present here are for English-language news only. Spanish-language news
would probably show an even greater lead in time. Third, it can be seen that,
after around May 12, despite the increasing number of disease cases, the rate of
increase in news reporting did not keep pace. Moreover, user interest as repre-
sented by news queries to Google News actually decreased.
