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Abstract

The United States saw a rise in Avian Influenza cases between 2023 and 2024, with 70 human cases, including one death (CDC, 2025). This has received media attention due to its potential impact on public health (Shapiro et al., 2021). Perceptions of risk associated with zoonotic diseases are influenced by engagement with and reliance on the media (Nui et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to determine how media framing of headlines related to Avian Influenza outbreaks influenced undergraduate students' risk perceptions and perceptions of the agricultural food system. A quasi-experimental design between two treatment groups was used. One group was shown media headlines reporting Avian Influenza outbreaks and responded to questions without a science communication intervention. Another group was shown the headlines and received a science communication intervention before responding to survey questions. The agenda-setting theory guided the study design and interpretation of data. Results showed that second-level agenda-setting effects were significantly greater in the group where the science intervention was completed before the survey, when compared to the group that did not receive the intervention. Results also showed a significant difference in the agricultural food system’s perception scores for groups who received the intervention before the survey, compared to those who did not. Results demonstrate the importance of science communication during a zoonotic disease crisis. It is recommended that science communication interventions for real-world issues be included in the agricultural communication curriculum. Future research should explore strategies to enhance the effectiveness of science communication interventions.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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