Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Opsono-Adherence Assay to Evaluate Functional Antibodies in Vaccine Development Against Bacillus anthracis and Other Encapsulated Pathogens
Published on: May 19, 2020
Communicating anthrax in 2001: a comparison of CDC information and print media accounts
Felicia Mebane1, Sarah Temin, Claudia F Parvanta
1Department of Health Policy and Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7411, USA. fmebane@unc.edu
Abstract:
Information about anthrax released by news media from October 4 to December 3, 2001, was identified, sampled, coded, and compared with information released by CDC during that period using statistical analysis. In addition, communications about two anthrax-related issues were examined in depth. The quantitative analysis showed that, overall, CDC information releases and news coverage tracked fairly closely. When weight was defined as number of mentions, both sources gave the same weight to reports of risk for the population. The news sample gave roughly half the weight as CDC to who was exposed, how people were exposed, and what role antibiotics play in preventing anthrax. The samples were widely divergent (CDC high, news sample low) for public health precautions and other details. The in-depth, qualitative analysis showed that some reporters misinterpreted information provided by CDC, but they responded to requests to clarify the issue. The findings of this study suggest ways to improve future crisis communication efforts and demonstrate how differing methods of analysis can yield substantially different conclusions.
Related Concept Videos
Inhalation Anthrax
Investigation of Disease Outbreaks
Smallpox
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Transmission-based Precautions II: Airborne and Protective Environment
Airborne precautions:
Use airborne precautions when treating patients known or suspected to have diseases that spread through the air—for example, tuberculosis or measles. These organisms are present in smaller droplets expelled by an infected person and...
Transmission-based Precautions I: Contact, Enteric, and Droplets
Contact Precautions:
Contact precautions are the measures taken to prevent the transmission of infectious agents, especially epidemiologically important microorganisms such as MRSA or influenza, primarily transmitted through direct or indirect contact with an...

