Thesis (Ph. D., Geography)--University of Idaho, December 2008. / Major professor: Harley Johansen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-202). Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

<p>This thesis examines patterns in poliomyelitis mortality in Wentworth and York Counties of southern Ontario, Canada, from 1900 to 1937. This period marked polio’s shift from endemic to epidemic status. It was also a time of shifting social, cultural, demographic, and economic patterns. Contemporaries struggled to understand polio’s epidemiology, and even today, with the poliovirus on the verge of global eradication, models to explain its changing patterns and impact continue to be revised.</p> <p>This thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative data collected from a variety of archival sources, including death, birth, and marriage registrations, census records, and newspaper articles, among other records. This information was used to build a geodatabase which forms the basis for analyses of mortality patterns in relation to age and sex, illness duration, seasonality, nativity, birthplace, ethnicity, and religion. Further analyses included family size, birth order, socioeconomic status, and place of residence patterns.</p> <p>Examined in the context of Wentworth and York Counties in the early 20^th century, the results both reveal a local pattern to polio’s epidemic emergence and provide a means to test broader hypotheses regarding polio’s epidemiological patterns. Specifically, results from this study were compared to the expectations of the intensive-exposure and cross-sex transmission hypotheses proposed by Nielsen and colleagues. Among the most important contributions of this thesis are the results showing a pattern of change over the study period, with two distinct stages. Stage One (1910 to 1927) is characterized by an equal sex ratio and a median known family size of four. Stage Two (1928 to 1937) is characterized by excess male deaths and a median known family size of two. These results link polio mortality patterns to demographic and ecological shifts in the early 20^th century and confirm that there is still much to learn from the history of this disease.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The current study projects the third-person perception phenomenon into the area of emergency management, specifically regarding risk communication in the context of religious gatherings. This study utilized the Umrah religious gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, during summer 2019 as a case study (N = 257). This study aimed to investigate whether pilgrims perceive there was a greater effect of health information on others than on themselves. Survey results were translated and then coded and analyzed statistically using SPSS software. The findings indicated that third-person perception existed among pilgrims. Specifically, the perception of pilgrims that the influence of news about MERS-CoV, believed to be undesirable in its effect on themselves, was greater on others than on themselves was found statistically significant. Further, the findings indicated that the more pilgrims watched, listened to, or read news about MERS-CoV, the larger the effect of the news they perceived on themselves and others was. Thus, exposure to MERS-CoV news did not increase, but rather decreased the perception of difference between self and others. Also, the empirical findings indicated that pilgrims who were knowledgeable about MERS-CoV could relate to the coverage. Moreover, if pilgrims believed they were affected by MERS-CoV news, they believed that the MERS-CoV news had a similar or greater effect on other pilgrims. The findings indicated socio-demographics had a partial effect on third-person perception, Finally, the stronger the perceived effect of MERS-CoV news on oneself, the more likely these pilgrims were to take protective actions against the MERS-CoV epidemic. However, the third-person perception anticipated in the use of impersonal communication (pamphlets, television, radio, newspapers, Internet, social media, text message, health clinics, mosques messages, public events, and billboards) and of interpersonal communication (friends, family member, or others you know) was not found significant. Moreover, the perceived effects of MERS-CoV news on others did not show third-person perception regarding behavior intention or consequences. These findings have implications for risk communication and its governance during religious gatherings as well as for the prepared individuals to promote preparation for risk and actions toward risk mitigation.