Initial UK public reaction to avian influenza: Analysis of opinions posted on the BBC website

Abstract

In February 2007, avian influenza arrived in the UK. Following evidence of illness at a turkey farm in Suffolk, around 160,000 birds were slaughtered and poultry movement controls were imposed. Given past food crises (e.g. BSE), it was clearly important to predict UK public response: for example, was mass panic imminent, or would the public respond calmly? Unfortunately, there is currently no theory that enables accurate prediction of public response to novel hazards or to novel manifestations of old hazards (Hawkes and Rowe in press). Furthermore, the speed of the outbreak, and the lack of academic preparedness, undermined social scientists' ability to acquire significant timely data on public perceptions in order to aid theory development or inform policy making. Analysis of initial public opinion is, however, possible, thanks to the recording of responses to open questions about this incident posted on the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) website. In this paper we: (a) justify the relevance and importance of this data, irrespective of deficiencies in its ‘representativeness’; (b) provide a content analysis of the more than 3,000 responses, and; (c) summarize initial opinion. Results suggest that ‘the public's’ initial response largely comprised discontent in how government was managing matters and concern about current farming practices. Indeed, for many, past food scares served as a reference point for understanding the present crisis, providing lessons on issues such as industry greed and governmental/scientific incompetence and misinformation. It is, however, important to recognize that there are data limitations, which need validation through more controlled research processes.

Keywords:

• Risk perception
• bird flu
• avian influenza
• risk communication

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the BBSRC, whose funding, via a Core Strategic Grant, made this research possible. We would also like to thank Rosemary Bobbin, who helped with data entry.

Notes

1.The management of the outbreak involved three main agencies: DEFRA and the SVS were responsible for implementing animal health measures as outlined in the EU Avian Influenza Directive; the Health Protection Agency (HPA) was responsible for the health of employees and the general public; and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) had responsibility for food safety (FSA 2007a).