The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Flickr among others, gave FoodQualityNews.com the insight into how they used social media during an outbreak.
CDC started an active online presence in 2007 but it became a big focus in 2009 after the H1N1 flu outbreak.
“For public health it is an important way to communicate because of the characteristics of being able to push information out quickly and engage with the public,” said Amy Burnett Heldman, team lead, social media, division of public affairs, office of the associate director for communication, CDC.
“The public can ask questions and we try to get them answers, it is a quick and personal touch and shows we are listening and paying attention to the key issues.”
Speaking about Facebook, she said there was a fair amount of engagement and the CDC works with its scientists to get answers to any questions people post.
“There is an increasing turn to online services and people are researching on their own so we need to be a part of that conversation and find out how do we position ourselves as a credible source.”
Social media co-ordination
She said that the CDC is a large organisation with a lot of moving parts but a Social Media Council brings together representatives from different programmes to ensure the approach is organised and they are speaking as one voice.
“Social media is not a stand-alone but it is integrated into our communications approach and supports the conventional methods.
“The speed of social media is important, such as posting something on Twitter, you see it is shared by your followers and then their followers – it is a domino effect and you can get your message to a lot of people.”
During an outbreak there is a lot of opportunity for misinformation, so the CDC needs to ensure they are the place people turn to, she added.
The outbreak of fungal meningitis last fall was one example of the CDC’s social media approach and strategy during an outbreak.
She added that the agency conducts a feedback survey every year to see if they are putting too much, not enough or the right type of information on their channels.
Facebook used in 2012 outbreak
In the outbreak last year, Facebook posts helped alert public health officials to illnesses of strep throat among a high school dance team.
DNA fingerprinting led investigators to pasta prepared by a previously ill parent as the likely source.
18 were sickened by strep throat, or Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis, less than three days after eating the pasta.
Multiple posts appeared on the team's Facebook page about ill dance team members and relatives.
The rapid communication possible within a large group using online social media played an important role in bringing this outbreak to the attention of a parent, who then contacted the health department, said Sarah Kemble, lead report author.