Public Health: Disease, Epidemic & Pandemic Threat (merged thread)

**AdamG** · 09-30-2016

Spinoff of the now-locked 2008 thread (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...hlight=disease), with a new plot twist for planning ops.

Epidemic transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV) has rapidly occurred in the Americas, with most cases limited to mild or asymptomatic disease.1,2 To date, nine deaths from ZIKV infection that were unrelated to the Guillain–Barré syndrome have been confirmed in adults.1 Here, we report a rapidly progressive, fatal ZIKV infection acquired outside the United States and secondary local transmission in the absence of known risk factors for ZIKV infection.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056...featured_home&

**AdamG** · 10-31-2016

Although the Ebola and Zika outbreaks in the United States never reached the catastrophic heights projected by some public health experts, these crises demonstrated that the United States is not immune to potentially devastating pandemic events threatening the health and security of the nation.
#
However, major gaps in the pandemic preparedness efforts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), one of the primary agencies leading the nation’s public health preparedness efforts, leave the United States unprepared for a pandemic event, according to a recent audit by the DHS Office of the#Inspector General (OIG).
#
Specifically, DHS OIG said the Department does not always provide clear guidance or sufficient oversight of component’s pandemic plans, implementation of pandemic readiness training, completion of reporting requirements and identification of the personal protective equipment and supplies needed for a pandemic response.

http://www.hstoday.us/industry-news/...445f9841a.html

**AdamG** · 10-31-2016

It’s estimated around 700,000 people die each year because of drug-resistant infections.
The UN Secretary General calls it a “fundamental threat” to global health and security. And a special meeting of the UN General Assembly was recently held to address the issue.
On current trends, the death-toll is expected to rise to around 10 million per year by 2050 unless more is done.#
So how prepared are we for future pandemics? And what measures are being undertaken to ensure we win what Mark Balskovich from the Centre for Superbug Solutions calls an “arms race” with bacteria?

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/...ndemic/7959344

What should companies do to protect its workers and the surrounding community from a pandemic? NIOSH's Lisa Delaney spoke to 2016 National Safety Congress attendees about emergency preparedness.

http://ehstoday.com/health/nsc-2016-...ou-be-prepared

**AdamG** · 02-14-2017

They are called superspreaders, the minority of people who are responsible for infecting many others during epidemics of infectious diseases. Perhaps the most famous superspreader was Typhoid Mary, presumed to have infected 51 people, three of whom died, between 1900 and 1907.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.27e12c5295da

Applicable advice -> https://youtu.be/vtSmfws0_To

**AdamG** · 02-21-2017

Tourists with more discretionary income and hubris than brains. Yay.

"Visiting beautiful places like this inspires people to protect tropical ecosystems and the species that live here," Olival says. "At the same time, we need to recognize that there may be potential health risks when people and wildlife come together, and that's why we're working to understand and limit those risks."

"We found 48 new viruses in the surrounding forest," Olival says, "including a virus related to SARS in bats that roost in the cave."

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand...g-on-your-head

**AdamG** · 04-20-2017

(CNN)Experts say we are "due" for one. When it happens, they tell us,#it will probably have a greater impact on humanity than anything else currently happening in the world.

And yet, like with most people, it is probably something you haven't spent much time thinking about. After all, it is human nature to avoid being consumed by hypotheticals until they are staring us squarely in the face.
Such is the case with a highly lethal flu pandemic. And when it comes, it will affect every human alive today.

Pandemic flu is apolitical and does not discriminate between rich and poor. Geographical boundaries are meaningless, and it can circle the globe within hours. In terms of potential impact on mankind, the only thing that comes close is climate change. And, like climate change, pandemic flu is so vast, it can be challenging to wrap your head around it.

- Dr Sanjay Gupta
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/health...-sanjay-gupta/

**davidbfpo** · 07-14-2017

Five threads have been merged today, following a review before posting the next article. The thread title has been amended to add Epidemic.

**AdamG** · 11-19-2018

National Public Radio (US thing) is galvanizing a citizen militia to track this season's flu.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segmen...and-in-health/

**AdamG** · 11-22-2018

“Influenza pandemics are like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis: they occur, and some are much worse than others,” says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “The idea that we would not have another 1918-like event is foolish.”

But when that will happen, he continues, is impossible to predict: “For all we know, it could be starting as we speak.” It’s also impossible to predict exactly how things will play out when a Spanish flu-like strain does reemerge – but we can make some educated guesses.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2018...roke-out-today

**AdamG** · 12-08-2018

Attacks by armed groups happen on a daily basis across Congo's North Kivu province, where the Ebola virus has been spreading since August, infecting almost 500 people and killing more than 270. It is now the second-biggest outbreak ever, after the vast epidemic that swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between 2014 and 2016.

The constant insecurity in North Kivu has proved an enormous obstacle, thwarting attempts to the contain the virus. By WHO's estimate, the outbreak will go on for at least another six months.

This is the first Ebola outbreak during which health workers have had to regularly don bulletproof helmets and vests. To reach at least 20 percent of Ebola-affected areas, health workers need armed police or U.N. escorts, said Michel Yao, WHO's response coordinator in Beni.

The U.S. government withdrew its only personnel in the region in late August and has no plans to redeploy them. The WHO has 300 specialists from around the world in North Kivu. Those on the ground describe a chaotic effort to either negotiate with or simply avoid the region's various militias.

"It turns into a cat-and-mouse game - we are the mouse trying to evade the armed groups," said Anoko, who is from Cameroon. But Anoko, whose job entails conducting extensive interviews with locals, cautioned against the assumption that health workers are being targeted for their work. "There's been decades of war, it cannot be so simply understood," she said.

https://www.lmtonline.com/news/artic...n-13449195.php