Animal Studies Commons^™

Improving Biosecurity Through Instructional Crisis Communication: Lessons Learned From The Pedv Outbreak, Timothy L. Sellnow, Jason S. Parker, Deanna D. Sellnow, Robert S. Littlefield, Emily M. Helsel, Morgan C. Getchell, Julia M. Smith, Scott C. Merrill

Journal of Applied Communications

Crises, by their nature, demand effectively designed and quickly delivered instructional messages that compel stakeholders to take appropriate actions to protect themselves and their assets. The challenges of crisis communication are intensified in crises involving unanticipated and relatively unknown disease outbreaks with the potential to spread exponentially. This study assesses the communication challenges and opportunities in such volatile crises through an analysis of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreak that severely threatened the United States pork industry in 2013 and 2014. Interviews were conducted with 13 individuals directly involved in developing and distributing risk and crisis biosecurity messages during …