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Abstract

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as Bird Flu, is a type A virus that primarily affects wild birds worldwide and can impact poultry, cattle, and other mammals. While there have been periods of low HPAI exposure reports, there is an ongoing U.S. outbreak as of March 2024 with the first case detected in a dairy herd. As a result, the challenges faced by both human and animal organizations have been depicted in the media. While traditional media sources are important consumer-facing communication methods, the role social media plays in how people receive information is increasing. Especially in a post-pandemic world, social media platforms such as TikTok are powerful tools for providing effective science communication and keeping exposures low during zoonotic disease outbreaks. This study assesses how TikTok was used to communicate during the most recent HPAI outbreak. A combination of qualitative and quantitative content analyses was used to investigate the portrayal of HPAI on TikTok. The analyses used videos posted from February 2023 to July 2024, coinciding with the two HPAI outbreaks that have occurred since March 2022. Results reveal major themes used across TikTok to communicate aspects of HPAI included: Public Health, Disease Detection, Relevant Occupations, Affected Groups, Response, Disease Conditions, Interventions, Wildlife, Communication, Bird Flu, Domesticated Animals, and Agricultural Products. Further research should be conducted on how scientists and practitioners use social media platforms to expand the reach of science communication messages. These efforts help establish a collaborative approach between different stakeholders to develop stronger trust relationships and proactive risk communication strategies.

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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