Uganda: Journalists Train in Bird Flu

In April 2006, the United States department of State, the International Broadcasting Bureau and Voice of America held a workshop for African journalists on avian influenza. Fifteen journalists from Sudan, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zambia, Mauritius, Madagascar, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss and learn about bird flu, including the packaging of avian flu messages, the economic and commercial implications of the spread of the virus, and the role of the media in reporting on bird flu.

According to the article, the “journalists concluded that the only effective weapon Africa can deploy against bird flu is an effective communication strategy by educating the public about the risk of outbreaks in their poultry and of a possible human pandemic.”