In the past, the media has served a source of data for syndromic surveillance of infectious disease, whether it is outbreaks of disease in animals or humans resulting in illness or death. More often than not, the reverse is true; data based on analyses of syndromic surveillance often flows from hospital to local health departments and federal governmental agencies such as the CDC to the media which then relays it to the public. In both instances, the media may serve as a purveyor of vital information. But, sometimes the media reports are less than ideal; the public may become fearful and panic at the news of a potential outbreak of an emerging infectious disease such as bird flu for which there is a high fatality case rate and no proven available vaccine, or curative therapy. Moreover, supplies of vaccine may be limited, and news of a shortage of antiviral medications such as Tamiflu may lead to stockpiling similar to what occurred with Cipro during the anthrax ‘scare.’
Objective:
This paper explores how the mass media covered bird flu outbreaks overseas in the Fall of 2005, and the nationÃs preparations for a possible bird flu pandemic, and how this period of intense media activity affected sales of antivirals in New City and New York State as monitored by syndromic surveillance techniques.