{
  "id": 28299,
  "title": "Whose fears count? Legitimacy, trust and viral outbreak responses after COVID-19",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/22/whose-fears-count-legitimacy-trust-and-viral-outbreak-responses-after",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-07-22T14:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PLOS Medicine",
    "slug": "plos-medicine",
    "url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1005184"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped viral outbreak response from a health issue to a political and security concern. This shift is evident in recent reactions to Ebola, mpox, and other emerging infections. Preparedness is now influenced by which fears are prioritized during decision-making, highlighting the need for legitimacy, trust, and inclusivity in management. The challenge lies in balancing competing perceptions of risk, as different actors may view them differently, leading to a complex hierarchy of concerns. Understanding how trust and mistrust shape risk perceptions is crucial for effective preparedness.",
  "summary": "by Rebecca F. Grais COVID-19 transformed viral outbreak response from a predominantly public health challenge into a political and security concern. Recent responses to Ebola, mpox, and other emerging infections suggest that preparedness is increasingly shaped by whose fears are prioritized in decision-making. The challenge is ensuring that competing perceptions of risk are managed in ways that…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}