Michelle Odlum1, Sunmoo Yoon2. 1. School of Nursing, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY. 2. School of Nursing, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY. Electronic address: sy2102@columbia.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Twitter can address the challenges of the current Ebola outbreak surveillance. The aims of this study are to demonstrate the use of Twitter as a real-time method of Ebola outbreak surveillance to monitor information spread, capture early epidemic detection, and examine content of public knowledge and attitudes. METHODS: We collected tweets mentioning Ebola in English during the early stage of the current Ebola outbreak from July 24-August 1, 2014. Our analysis for this observational study includes time series analysis with geologic visualization to observe information dissemination and content analysis using natural language processing to examine public knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: A total of 42,236 tweets (16,499 unique and 25,737 retweets) mentioning Ebola were posted and disseminated to 9,362,267,048 people, 63 times higher than the initial number. Tweets started to rise in Nigeria 3-7 days prior to the official announcement of the first probable Ebola case. The topics discussed in tweets include risk factors, prevention education, disease trends, and compassion. CONCLUSION: Because of the analysis of a unique Twitter dataset captured in the early stage of the current Ebola outbreak, our results provide insight into the intersection of social media and public health outbreak surveillance. Findings demonstrate the usefulness of Twitter mining to inform public health education.
BACKGROUND: Twitter can address the challenges of the current Ebola outbreak surveillance. The aims of this study are to demonstrate the use of Twitter as a real-time method of Ebola outbreak surveillance to monitor information spread, capture early epidemic detection, and examine content of public knowledge and attitudes. METHODS: We collected tweets mentioning Ebola in English during the early stage of the current Ebola outbreak from July 24-August 1, 2014. Our analysis for this observational study includes time series analysis with geologic visualization to observe information dissemination and content analysis using natural language processing to examine public knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: A total of 42,236 tweets (16,499 unique and 25,737 retweets) mentioning Ebola were posted and disseminated to 9,362,267,048 people, 63 times higher than the initial number. Tweets started to rise in Nigeria 3-7 days prior to the official announcement of the first probable Ebola case. The topics discussed in tweets include risk factors, prevention education, disease trends, and compassion. CONCLUSION: Because of the analysis of a unique Twitter dataset captured in the early stage of the current Ebola outbreak, our results provide insight into the intersection of social media and public health outbreak surveillance. Findings demonstrate the usefulness of Twitter mining to inform public health education.
Authors: S John Sullivan; Anthony G Schneiders; Choon-Wi Cheang; Emma Kitto; Hopin Lee; Jason Redhead; Sarah Ward; Osman H Ahmed; Paul R McCrory Journal: Br J Sports Med Date: 2011-03-15 Impact factor: 13.800
Authors: Justin C Bosley; Nina W Zhao; Shawndra Hill; Frances S Shofer; David A Asch; Lance B Becker; Raina M Merchant Journal: Resuscitation Date: 2012-10-27 Impact factor: 5.262
Authors: Scott J N McNabb; Alison M Surdo; Anne Redmond; James Cobb; Jennifer Wiley; Sumita Chakrabarti; Heather Duncan; Noreen Qualls; Marisa Moore Journal: Ann Epidemiol Date: 2004-10 Impact factor: 3.797
Authors: Isaac Chun-Hai Fung; King-Wa Fu; Chung-Hong Chan; Benedict Shing Bun Chan; Chi-Ngai Cheung; Thomas Abraham; Zion Tsz Ho Tse Journal: Public Health Rep Date: 2016 May-Jun Impact factor: 2.792
Authors: Connie Cai Ru Gan; Shuo Feng; Huiyun Feng; King-Wa Fu; Sara E Davies; Karen A Grépin; Rosemary Morgan; Julia Smith; Clare Wenham Journal: BMJ Glob Health Date: 2022-04
Authors: Andy Wai Kan Yeung; Maria Kletecka-Pulker; Fabian Eibensteiner; Petra Plunger; Sabine Völkl-Kernstock; Harald Willschke; Atanas G Atanasov Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2021-07-09
Authors: Jacek Radzikowski; Anthony Stefanidis; Kathryn H Jacobsen; Arie Croitoru; Andrew Crooks; Paul L Delamater Journal: JMIR Public Health Surveill Date: 2016-01-04