Evolving and Emerging Challenges in Biopreparedness

• Published in: Contagion Vol. 8; no. 2
• Main Author: Popescu, Saskia V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cranbury MultiMedia Healthcare Inc 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Avian flu; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease transmission; Ebola virus; Emergency medical care; Emergency preparedness; Epidemics; Hospitals; Infectious diseases; Middle East respiratory syndrome; Monkeypox; Pandemics; Public health; Respiratory diseases; Verbal communication; United States > US; Equatorial Guinea
• ISSN: 1553-538X

The HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s/1990s revealed a deeply inadequate health care and public health system and should have been the catalyst not only for better responses to emerging and novel infectious diseases, but also for discussions about the social dynamics that make response difficult. Response was chaotic at best, despite Ebola's discovery dating back to 1976. [...]we fail to establish readiness plans that acknowledge their highly invasive capacity and how that can increase the risk to health care workers.3 Ebola virus disease wasn't new in 2014, but its ability to show up in American emergency departments despite being an emerging disease halfway around the world proved that we weren't ready, even with our financially resourceful health infrastructure. [...]their frequency is rising. A highly worrisome H5N1 outbreak is occurring on a global scale, underscoring the risk posed by zoonotic diseases.5 In addition, late 2022 saw yet another outbreak of the Ebola virus in Uganda and just last month Equatorial Guinea began working to manage its first Marburg outbreak.6 All these events point to the fact that the world is increasingly experiencing infectious disease events and that we must invest in One Health efforts and a proactive response.7 WHAT MUST BE SAID OUT LOUD Efforts to improve health care response require continued conversations, community engagement, diversity and inclusion efforts, and ingenuity.