text_1: “Every election year has a disease” ... SARS in 2004; avian flu in 2008; swine flu in 2010; MERS in 2012; Ebola in 2014 and 2018; Zika in 2016 and the coronavirus in 2020.
text_2: Most of these diseases were discovered and spread before the election years and were minimally mentioned during campaigns. SARS, avian flu and MERS had virtually no effect on the U.S. during election years. One exception: Ebola was a significant campaign issue in 2014.