Health Secur. 2018 Jan/Feb;16(1):48-57. doi: 10.1089/hs.2017.0086.
The unprecedented scale of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014-15 caught the world by surprise. Zaire Ebolavirus had not previously been documented in Guinea, Sierra Leone, or Liberia. However, since this strain of filovirus was first identified in 1976, scientists have been studying the disease and its origins. They have identified forest-dwelling animals that carry the virus, and some that die from it, but have yet to isolate how it is transmitted from animals to humans. During the height of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, some public health messages addressed the link among Ebola, wild animals, and humans. This article analyzes 3 of those health messages and identifies information that is inconsistent with scientific research. Two additional examples illustrate more accurate public health messages. Until there is greater certainty about the nature of the transmission chain, future public health campaigns may be improved by timing, placement, images, and wording that provide the most accurate information to the most appropriate audience.
2014-2015 年西非埃博拉疫情规模空前，令世界猝不及防。扎伊尔埃博拉病毒此前从未在几内亚、塞拉利昂或利比里亚出现过。然而，自这种丝状病毒于 1976 年首次被发现以来，科学家们一直在研究这种疾病及其起源。他们已经确定了携带这种病毒的森林动物，其中一些动物因此死亡，但仍未分离出它是如何从动物传播给人类的。在西非埃博拉疫情高峰期，一些公共卫生信息传达了埃博拉、野生动物和人类之间的联系。本文分析了其中的 3 条健康信息，并指出了与科学研究不一致的信息。另外两个例子说明了更准确的公共卫生信息。在确定传播链的性质之前，未来的公共卫生运动可以通过时间安排、地点选择、图像和措辞来改进，以便向最合适的受众提供最准确的信息。
