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Foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria are being reported at an increasing rate in the United States. We performed a text-mining analysis to look at nearly 13,000 tweets from two foodborne Escherichia coli outbreaks in 2018. Concerns from the public included staying informed about contaminated lettuce, recognizing signs of infection, and holding responsible farms accountable. At the end of the second outbreak, comments were focused on assessing symptoms, using the traceback process to locate outbreak sources, and calling for better food labeling practices., (Copyright © 2019 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The arrival of the Zika virus in the United States caused much concern among the public because of its ease of transmission and serious consequences for pregnant women and their newborns. We conducted a text analysis to examine original tweets from the public and responses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a live Twitter chat hosted by the CDC. Both the public and the CDC expressed concern about the spread of Zika virus, but the public showed more concern about the consequences it had for women and babies, whereas the CDC focused more on symptoms and education., (Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A diagnosis of Ebola on US soil triggered widespread panic. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a live Twitter chat to address public concerns. This study applied a textual analytics method to reveal insights from these tweets that can inform communication strategies. User-generated tweets were collected, sorted, and analyzed to reveal major themes. The public was concerned with symptoms and lifespan of the virus, disease transfer and contraction, safe travel, and protection of one's body., (Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)