<p>Emerging infectious diseases are defined as diseases that are first recognized in human hosts. These infectious diseases originate in one country and severely affect related populations in other countries, often causing harmful effects.<sup>1</sup> With the rapid increase in international travel and overseas travel due to globalization and transport developments, there is the possibility of worldwide outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. The current COVID-19 outbreak provides a unique platform to study behavioral changes for two main reasons. First, government engagement in the control of the outbreak has been unprecedented, for example, locking down Qom and surrounding cities, extending holidays and school closure, deploying thousands of medical staff to heavily affected areas, and running intense public messaging campaigns. Second, the public is faced with rather mixed information, partly because knowledge of the newly emerging disease is evolving with the course of the outbreak. Both features might result in different public responses towards the outbreak.</p>
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