Participant Quotes Regarding Rumor Priority From Interviews on Organizational Response to Rumors During the 2014–2016 Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Liberia and Sierra Leone
| Theme | Quote |
|---|---|
| High priority | Rumors were super important, and they were considered a fundamental bedrock of everything that they were doing. —International staff, Sierra Leone |
| Priority variation within organization | I think we really dropped the ball at the [Ebola Treatment Center]. I mean, it's embarrassing because … it should have been really at the top of my mind, but it wasn't. I was so busy doing other ETC stuff. I wasn't thinking about laying any kind of groundwork or trying to track rumors around the ETC. —International staff, Sierra Leone |
| Low priority | As far as I remember - they were not particularly concerned in having an approach to do with addressing the rumors. —International staff, Sierra Leone |
| Changing priority over time | I don't think anyone really knew what a huge problem they would be until after the peak of the outbreak. I don't I don't think we understood how much of a barrier they would be. I mean we started hearing rumors in probably May or June of that of 2014, but I don't I just don't think any of us foresaw what a barrier they would be to health seeking behaviors. And so before then I don't think we took them seriously, to be quite honest. Or not seriously enough. I think there was a lot of, like, laughing them off at the Ministry level and in the technical working groups. —International staff, Liberia |