J Korean Med Assoc.  2015 Jul;58(7):624-634. 10.5124/jkma.2015.58.7.624.

Public health crisis response and establishment of a crisis communication system in South Korea: lessons learned from the MERS outbreak

• Choi JW
• Kim KH
• Moon JM
• Kim MS

• KMID: 2064919
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2015.58.7.624

Abstract

It is widely believed that effective communication is critical for the containment of the spread of emerging infectious diseases. Various media outlets and studies have pointed out communication failure as one of the key components that contributed to the wide and rapid spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in South Korea. To address these concerns, we first outline the definitions of risk and crisis communication and why they are important. We then illustrate communication models and guidelines utilized in three organizations (World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UK Public Health England) for health or disaster control. By analyzing the current guidelines for infectious diseases in South Korea and they were actually applied during the Middle East respiratory syndrome situation, we will assess what went wrong and what went right. Finally, we will suggest various measures that will help to ensure similar tragedies do not happen again.

Keyword

Coronavirus infections; Communicable diseases; Risk communication; Crisis communication

MeSH Terms

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Communicable Diseases
Communicable Diseases, Emerging
Containment of Biohazards
Coronavirus
Coronavirus Infections
Disasters
Korea
Middle East
Public Health*

Reference

1. KBS Digital News Division. Current state of MERS infection [Internet]. Seoul: KBS Digital News Division;2015. cited 2015 Jun 30. Available from: http://dj.kbs.co.kr/resources/2015-06-08/.

2. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emergency preparedness and response: crisis and emergency risk com-munication (CERC) [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;2015. cited 2015 Jun 29. Available from: http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/resources/index.asp.

3. Ministry of Health and Welfare. Infectious disease: risk mana-gement standard manual. Sejong: Ministry of Health and Wel-fare;2014.

4. World Health Organization. Outbreak communication: best practices for communicating with the public during an outbreak. Geneva: World Health Organization;2004. cited 2015 Jun 20. Available from: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO_CDS_2005_32web.pdf.

5. People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. 70% of South Koreans skeptical of governmental response to MERS [Internet]. Seoul: People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy;2015. cited 2015 Jun 30. Available from: http://www.peoplepower21.org/index.php?mid=Press&page=2&document_srl=1337851.

6. Amin S, Mahasan SS. Relationship between consumers per-ceived risks and consumer trust: a study of sainsbury store. Middle East J Sci Res. 2014; 19:647–655.

7. National Research Council. Improving risk communication. Washington, DC: National Academy Press;1989.

8. Fearn-Banks K. Crisis communications: a casebook approach. 4th ed. New York: Routledge;2011.

9. Seeger MW, Sellnow TL, Ulmer RR. Communication and orga-nizational crisis. Westport: Praeger;2003.

10. World Health Organization. Consultation on the health emer-gency risk management framework and improving public health preparedness: meeting report [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2013. cited 2015 Jun 23. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/78359/1/WHO_HSE_HEA_HSP_2013.1_eng.pdf.

11. World Health Organization. Pandemic influenza risk mana-gement WHO interim guidance [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2013. cited 2015 Jun 23. Available from: http://www.who.int/influenza/preparedness/pandemic/GIP_PandemicInfluenzaRiskManagementInterimGuidance_Jun2013.pdf?ua=1.

12. World Health Organization. Emergency risk management for health fact sheets [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2013. cited 2015 Jun 23. Available from: http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/preparedness/risk_management_overview_17may2013.pdf.

13. World Health Organization. Outbreak communication planning guide: 2008 edition [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2008. cited 2015 Jun 30. Available from: http://www.who.int/ihr/elibrary/WHOOutbreakCommsPlanngGuide.pdf.

14. World Health Organization. Outbreak communication: best practices for communicating with the public during an outbreak [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2004. cited 2015 Jun 20. Available from: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO_CDS_2005_32web.pdf.

15. Public Health England. Communicable disease outbreak management: operational guidance [Internet]. London: Public Health England;2014. cited 2015 Jun 25. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/343723/12_8_2014_CD_Outbreak_Guidance_REandCT_2__2_.pdf.

16. Sandman PM. Four kinds of risk communication [Internet]. Brooklyn: Peter M. Sandman;2003. cited 2015 Jun 20. Available from: http://www.psandman.com/handouts/sand17.pdf.

17. Khan N, Gale J. Virus specialists probe South Korea's deadly MERS-CoV outbreak [Internet]. New York: Bloomberg Busi-ness;2015. cited 2015 Jun 29. Available from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/virus-specialists-probe-south-korea-s-deadly-mers-cov-outbreak.

18. Choi JW, Kim KH, Cho YM, Kim SH. Current epidemiological situation of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus clusters and implications for public health response in South Korea. J Korean Med Assoc. 2015; 58:487–497.

19. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Interim infection prevention and control recommendations for hospi-talized patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome coro-navirus (MERS-CoV) [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;2015. cited 2015 Jun 25. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/infection-prevention-control.html.

20. Ministry of Health-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Health staff guidelines-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) [Internet]. Riyadh: Ministry of Health-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;2014. cited 2015 Jun 30. Available from: http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/StaffRegulations/Corona/Pages/StaffRegulations.aspx.

21. Azhar EI, Hashem AM, El-Kafrawy SA, Sohrab SS, Aburizaiza AS, Farraj SA, Hassan AM, Al-Saeed MS, Jamjoom GA, Madani TA. Detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus genome in an air sample originating from a camel barn owned by an infected patient. mBio. 2014; 5:e01450–e01414.

22. Lee YW, Cho MD. President Park continued emphasis on "return to daily life". Kyunghyang Shinmun;2015. 06. 16. cited 2015 Jun 20. Available from: http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201506162215075&code=910203.

23. Branswell H. Saudi silence on deadly MERS virus outbreak frustrates world health experts [Internet]. New York: Scientific American;2013. cited 2015 Jun 25. Available from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/saudi-silence-on-deadly-mers-virus-outbreak-frustrates-world-health-experts/.

24. Faqih A. Saudi Arabia: Minister Faqih's first progress report on MERS [Internet]. Jeddah: MERS, Politics and Health;2014. cited 2015 Jun 22. Available from: http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014/04/saudi-arabia-minister-faqihs-first-progress-report.html.

25. Kelland K. Transparency, teamwork key to beating deadly South Korea MERS outbreak. Reuters;2015. 06. 03. cited 2015 Jun 22. Available from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-health-mers-transparency-idUSKBN0OJ1XW20150603.

26. Chun MH. Trust in Korean Ministry of Health Plummets after MERS-CoV infection. Yonhap News;2015. 07. 07. cited 2015 Jul 7. Available from: http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2015/07/07/0200000000AKR20150707054900017.HTML?input=1195m.

27. Gesser-Edelsburg A, Shir-Raz Y, Hayek S, Sassoni-Bar Lev O. What does the public know about Ebola? The public's risk perceptions regarding the current Ebola outbreak in an as-yet unaffected country. Am J Infect Control. 2015; 43:669–675.

28. Kim BK, Jun MH. Government announces MERS rumor spreaders to be prosecuted. Yonhap News;2015. 05. 30. cited 2015 Jun 27. Available from: http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2015/05/30/0200000000AKR20150530029552017.HTML.

29. Kim SS. Ruling party on MERS rumors "should be eradi-cated", opposition party "government threatening citizens". Herald Economy;2015. 05. 31. cited 2015 Jun 24. Available from: http://biz.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20150531000159.

30. Kim JW. MERS flew under the radar due to deficient manual. Dailian;2015. 06. 03. cited 2015 Jun 23. Available from: http://m.dailian.co.kr/news/view/508063.

31. Khan N, Gale J. Virus specialists probe South Korea's deadly MERS-CoV outbreak. New Bloomberg Business;2015. 06. 09. cited 2015 Jun 21. Available from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/virus-specialists-probe-south-korea-s-deadly-mers-cov-outbreak.

32. Wu YC. Risk communication during the SARS outbreak in Taiwan: what did we do and what have we learned? [Internet]. Fu-Jen: Fu-Jen Catholic University;2006. cited 2015 Jun 30. Available from: http://survey.erasmusmc.nl/SARSControlproject/picture/upload/WP6%20final%20report%202(1).pdf.

33. Smith RD. Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management. Soc Sci Med. 2006; 63:3113–3123.

34. Menon KU. SARS revisited: managing "outbreaks" with "com-munications". Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2006; 35:361–367.

35. Lanard J, Sandman PM. SARS communication: what Singapore is doing right [Internet]. New York: The Peter M. Sandman Risk Communication Website;2003. cited 2015 Jun 26. Available from: http://www.psandman.com/articles/sars-2.htm.

36. Sandman PM. Reducing outrage: six principal strategies [Internet]. New York: Peter M. Sandman Risk Communication Website;1998. cited 2015 Jun 28. Available from: http://www.psandman.com/handouts/sand42.pdf.