Outbreaks: Canadian's Reaction to SARS and Mad Cow Disease

Despite Renewed Outbreak of SARS, Concern Remains Constant at One in Three (33%) However, Half (51%) are Concerned Canada Will Be Affected by Mad Cow Disease

30 May 2003

Toronto, ONTARIO- As Canada prepares for a summer of worry and concern over West Nile Virus, the current health threats of SARS and Mad Cow Disease are dominating the headlines. Since entering the Canadian radar screen in March, concern over personally contacting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has declined from a level of 61% at the beginning of April to just 33% this week, according to a new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today.

Further on this issue, Canadians express confidence in the abilities of the individuals and agencies directly involved in combating the recent SARS outbreak. Nine in ten (90% - 53% very confident) Canadians express confidence in the ability of their local doctors and nurses to contain the recent outbreak of SARS, while 85% are confident (36% very confident) in the ability of their local public health officials and 83% (31% very confident) in Health Canada to control the SARS outbreak. Three-quarters of Canadians have confidence in their own provincial government (74% - 21% very confident) and provincial Minister of Health (73% - 22% very confident), while 68% express confidence (21% very confident) in the ability of their own municipal government to deal with this issue. Two in three express confidence in the federal government (67% - 18% very confident) and Anne McClellan, the federal Minister of Health (64% - 16% very confident).

The second health threat to flare up onto the headlines during the past couple of weeks is the recent discovery that a cow in Alberta had tested positive for BSE, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, assumed to be the cause of the fatal brain disorder, variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD). On this front, half (51%) of Canadians are concerned that Canada will be affected by Mad Cow Disease. When last asked about this topic in February of 2001, 61% of Canadians indicated concern on this question.

While half of Canadians may be concerned, eight in ten (82%) say they trust Canada's Food Inspection Agency to protect them from flood-borne illness such as Mad Cow Disease. This represents an increase from 76% reported in February 2001. This same confidence appears to extend to the likelihood of Canadians becoming infected with vCJD, the human form of Mad Cow Disease. In fact, six in ten (58%) say they do not think anyone in Canada will become infected with the human form of Mad Cow Disease. When asked in February 2001, just 39% held this position.

However, two-thirds (65%) of Canadians do express concern about the safety of the food that they eat. This is consistent with the results found in 2001, when 68% agreed with this view.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between May 27th and May 30th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,001 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Despite Renewed Outbreak of SARS, Concern Remains Constant at One in Three (33%)

Concern over personally contacting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has declined from a level of 61% at the beginning of April to just 33% this week. Just one in ten (9%) say they are very concerned, with 23% who are somewhat concerned. In total 67% are not concerned with contacting SARS.

Concerned remains at approximately the same level as at the beginning of the month in Atlantic Canada (early May 38%; late May 39%), Ontario (early May 40%; late May 37%), British Columbia (early May 35%; late May 31%) and Quebec (early May 25%; late May 28%), while it has declined significantly on the Prairies in Alberta (early May 43%; late May 26%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (early May 42%; late May 26%).
Older (38% versus younger 27%) Canadians, those without a high school diploma (44% versus 31% of those with some university or other post-secondary education and 27% of university graduates), and Canadians in lower income households (44% versus 30% in middle and 23% in upper income households) are more likely to express concern of contacting SARS.

Ontarians (93%) are more likely to be confident in their local doctors and nurses than are their counterparts in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (87%), Quebec (86%) or Atlantic Canada (86%). Ontarians (89%) are also more likely than those in Quebec (81%) or Saskatchewan/Manitoba (79%) to express confidence in the ability of local Public Health officials to deal with the recent outbreak of SARS.
Likely reflecting other discontent with their provincial government, British Columbians (60%) are the least likely to say they are confident in their provincial government's ability to deal with the SARS outbreak
Younger Canadians are more likely to express confidence in Health Canada (88% versus 82% of middle aged and 78% of older Canadians), their provincial government (79% versus 68% of older Canadians), the federal government (73% versus 62% of older Canadians) and federal Health Minister, Anne McClellan (74% versus 64% of middle aged and 55% of older Canadians).
Women are more likely than men to express confidence in local public health officials (88% versus 82%), Health Canada (85% versus 80%), their municipal government (73% versus 64%), the federal government (70% versus 64%) and federal Health Minister, Anne McClellan (70% versus 57%). Men and women are equally as likely to express confidence in their local doctors and nurses (women 91%; men 89%), their provincial government (women 75%; men 73%), and their provincial minister of health (women 76%; men 70%).
Canadians in upper income households (88%) are more likely than those in lower income households (81%) to express confidence in their local public health officials.

Half (51%)of Canadians are Concerned Country Will Be Affected by Mad Cow Disease

The second threat to Canadian's health to flare up onto the headlines during the past couple of weeks was the discovery that a cow in Alberta had tested positive for BSE, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, assumed to be the cause of the fatal brain disorder, variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD). On this front, half (51%) of Canadians are concerned that Canada will be affected by Mad Cow Disease. When last asked about this topic in February of 2001, 61% of Canadians indicated concern on this question. In total 49% currently say they are not concerned about Mad Cow Disease affecting Canada.

Residents of Atlantic Canada (64%) are more likely than those in Quebec (51%), British Columbia (50%) and Ontario (48%) to be concerned that Canada will be affected by Mad Cow Disease.
Women (56% versus 46% of men) are more likely to be concerned, while men (54% versus 44% of women) are more likely to not be concerned.
Canadians in lower income households (60%) are more likely to be concerned than are their counterparts from middle (50%) or upper (42%) income households.
University graduates (59%) are the least likely to express concern, compared to those with less education (44%).

While half may be concerned, eight in ten (82%) say they trust Canada's Food Inspection Agency to protect them from flood-borne illness such as Mad Cow Disease. This represents an increase from 76% reported in February 2001. Just one in five (18%) disagree with this position.

Residents of Quebec (85%) and Ontario (84%) are significantly more likely to agree with this position than are residents of British Columbia (75%) or Saskatchewan/Manitoba (74%).
Younger (86%) adults are more likely to agree with this position than are middle aged Canadians (80%).
There are no significant differences between gender, education or household income groups on this view.

This same confidence appears to extend to the likelihood of Canadians becoming infected with vCJD. In fact, six in ten (58%) say they don't think anyone in Canada will become infected with the human form of Mad Cow Disease. When asked in February 2001, just 39% agreed with this position. Four in ten (41%) think that people in Canada will become infected.

Two-thirds (63%) of Ontarians agree with the position that people will not become infected with the human form of Mad Cow Disease. This is significantly higher than the views of those in Quebec (55%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (49%) and British Columbia (49%). In Alberta, 62% of respondents agree with this position.
Older (65%) Canadians are significantly more likely than are their younger (55%) or middle aged (54%) counterparts to agree that people will not become infected.
There are no significant differences between the views of gender, education or household income groups on this subject.

However, two-thirds (65%) of Canadians are concerned about the safety of the food that they eat. This is consistent with the results found in 2001, when 68% agreed with this view. In total, 34% disagree.

Ontarians (72%) are significantly more likely to say they are concerned about food safety than are those in Alberta (59%) or Quebec (52%). In fact, Quebecers (48%) more likely than those in any other region - except Alberta (41%) - to say they are not concerned about the safety of the food they eat.
Canadians 35 years of age and older (68%) are more likely than are those 18 to 34 years of age (58%) to express concern.
Women (72%) are more likely than men (59%) to say they are concerned about the safety of the food they eat.
Canadians in lower income households (72%) are more likely than their counterparts in upper income households (61%) to express concern on this topic.

To view the release and detailed tables, please open the attached PDF files.

-30-

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

Download

More insights about Public Sector

Society