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Challenges of Designing and Implementing High Consequence Infectious Disease Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2018

Joan M. King ,
Chetan Tiwari ,
Armin R. Mikler  and
Martin O’Neill II
Joan M. King*
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis (CeCERA), University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Chetan Tiwari
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis (CeCERA), University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Armin R. Mikler
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis (CeCERA), University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Martin O’Neill II
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis (CeCERA), University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Joan M. King, Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis (CeCERA), University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76201 (e-mail: JoanKing@my.unt.edu).
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Abstract

Ebola is a high consequence infectious disease—a disease with the potential to cause outbreaks, epidemics, or pandemics with deadly possibilities, highly infectious, pathogenic, and virulent. Ebola’s first reported cases in the United States in September 2014 led to the development of preparedness capabilities for the mitigation of possible rapid outbreaks, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) providing guidelines to assist public health officials in infectious disease response planning. These guidelines include broad goals for state and local agencies and detailed information concerning the types of resources needed at health care facilities. However, the spatial configuration of populations and existing health care facilities is neglected. An incomplete understanding of the demand landscape may result in an inefficient and inequitable allocation of resources to populations. Hence, this paper examines challenges in implementing CDC’s guidance for Ebola preparedness and mitigation in the context of geospatial allocation of health resources and discusses possible strategies for addressing such challenges. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:563–566)

Keywords

response planninghigh consequence infectious diseasegeographic mappingdisease outbreakspolicy making
Type
Policy Analysis
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 563 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2018 

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