In our first post, we provided a very broad overview of the ongoing bird flu situation. This post will focus specifically on stories reporters can do on ecological health issues, including veterinary, agricultural and wildlife angles — areas that have been underreported by health journalists but are particularly important at the local level.
Identifying the right sources
A key skill in reporting on the many different angles of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is ensuring the sources for a particular story actually have the necessary expertise. An expert on coronaviruses, for example, is not necessarily an expert on influenza, and an expert in cattle is not necessarily an expert on poultry. Poor vetting of sources was a major problem early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and it contributed to the spread of misinformation and distrust of authorities.
Identifying the right experts for a story on veterinary risks of HPAI, for example, involves much more than contacting a local farm veterinarian. It may require talking to a poultry expert, a cattle veterinarian, a wild birds biologist, a zoonotic virologist, an expert in personal protective equipment (PPE) for workers, a representative from the state or local agriculture agency and a representative from the local health department.
Meanwhile, a story about developing a vaccine may require talking to a virus geneticist, an expert on flu vaccines, a pharmaceutical company representative, a public health expert on challenges of rollout, and perhaps even a vaccine hesitancy expert who can discuss the anticipated challenges of a flu vaccine when seasonal flu vaccines have low uptake. The UC Davis page on avian influenza experts is an excellent example of how many different specialties are relevant to this issue.
When considering whether you have the right sources for your bird flu story, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does this person have the expertise, whether based on knowledge, education or experience, to answer very specific questions about the local situation or to provide insights on the story beyond what a general observer could figure out?
- Do you have or need people with lived experience, such as farmers or ranchers who can speak to the logistical on-the-ground challenges they face in protecting their herds/flocks?
- Should you talk to employees who can speak to challenges they have in finding or using PPE to protect themselves?
- Does this person directly study or interact with the specific species your story mentions? A story about cows, chickens, cats, and geese may require four sources with expertise for each of those species.
- Has this source published peer-reviewed studies in the specific topic you’re reporting on? (That’s not a necessary prerequisite, but for researchers, their publication history on PubMed is a good clue to their areas of expertise.)
- Does this person stay within their scope of expertise, or are they covering a wide range of topics — a potential red flag that they don’t have specialized expertise?
Starting places for finding sources
Keep in mind that these are starting places, not comprehensive lists. Keep in mind that the institutions included have the resources to create these pages and lists, while many local agencies and institutions with fewer resources for online communications can be rich sources for reporting.
- The UC Davis Media Experts on Avian Influenza.
- North Carolina State experts on H5N1 bird flu.
- Florida State University H5N1 bird flu experts.
- Georgetown University Subject Matter Experts for H5N1 Bird Flu.
- UW–Madison experts on bird flu spread.
- Purdue University Avian influenza experts.
- National Foundation for Infectious Disease Experts.
- Texas Biomedical Research Institute Experts.
- Johns Hopkins experts (see full experts guide here).
- Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine HPAI Resource Center.
- Harvard Medical School’s coverage and list of experts: “Are We on the Cusp of a Major Bird Flu Outbreak?”
- Look at other universities’ experts guides and contact local and state agriculture and public health departments.
- Richard Webby, the director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza, based at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee.
- Marion Koopmans, a leading expert in influenza evolution and spillover, based in Rotterdam.
- Eddie Holmes, an expert on the evolution and emergence of infectious diseases, based in Sydney.
- James Lloyd-Smith, an expert on pathogen emergence and spillovers, based in Los Angeles.
In addition to state and county health departments and agriculture departments, these websites can help you find additional local and state sources:
- Designated and Acting State Public Health Veterinarians.
- State animal health officials.
- Look up Animal Health Contacts by state on the USDA website.
- National Animal Health Laboratory Network map and directory.
