The Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

Mack, Allison; Snair, Megan; Mundaca-Shah, Carmen C.

doi:10.17226/23653

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Numerous, comprehensive after-action reports described the lessons learned, including criticism of WHO (26) and the DHHS in the USA (27). Summaries of the system' s shortcomings and capability and capacity deficits included weaknesses in the following areas: a) leadership, both international and domestic b) collaboration and coordination c) risk communication d) surveillance and laboratory systems e) global public health and medical systems f) community mitigation measures g) capacity for medical surge h) healthcare-provider biosafety i) a lack of vaccines and therapeutics j) surge capacity for vaccine advanced research and manufacturing k) handling of hazardous materials and decontamination l) funding and other resources m) international preparedness to respond to an emergent outbreak crisis n) the preparedness of the USA to respond to an emergent outbreak crisis, either internationally or domestically o) the effective use of elements of the National Response Framework by US agencies (28,29,30,31,32).…”

Section: West African Ebola Virus Epidemic 2014-2016mentioning

confidence: 99%

Best practices for after-action review: turning lessons observed into lessons learned for preparedness policy

Parker¹

2020

Rev. Sci. Tech. OIE

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All-hazards preparedness and response planning requires ongoing individual, organisational and multi-jurisdictional learning. Disaster after-action reviews are an established emergency management practice to acquire knowledge through a process of analysing what happened and why, to improve the emergency response before the next crisis. After-action reviews help individuals and organisations learn, and are an essential step in the preparedness cycle. Human and animal health authorities have begun to employ after-action reviews for disaster preparedness and response among public health and Veterinary Services. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) encourages Members to establish after-action reviews and share best practice. The adoption of afteraction review is an essential step for all provincial, national and multinational emergency management authorities to mitigate the impact of disasters on human and animal health. Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential pose unique preparedness challenges, requiring high-level policy attention to close long-standing gaps. A review of after-action reports from the 2001 anthrax bioterror attacks and of naturally occurring infectious disease crises, from the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) to the 2014 Ebola epidemic, reveal a similar pattern of repeated weakness and failures. These phenomena are described as 'lessons observed but not lessons learned'. Most infectious disease outbreaks with pandemic potential are zoonotic and require a One Health approach to prevent, prepare for and respond to global health security crises. After-action reviews in a One Health security context are essential to improve the pandemic preparedness of public health and Veterinary Services. After-action reviews can also provide the evidence-based 'feedback loop' needed to galvanise public policy and political will to translate lessons observed into sustained and applied lessons learned. KeywordsAfter-action review -All-hazards preparedness -Emergency management -Global health security -One Health -Pandemic preparedness -Public health preparedness -United States of America -Veterinary public health -Veterinary Services emergency management -World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

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Section: West African Ebola Virus Epidemic 2014-2016mentioning

confidence: 99%

Best practices for after-action review: turning lessons observed into lessons learned for preparedness policy

Parker¹

2020

Rev. Sci. Tech. OIE

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How epidemics end

Charters

Heitman²

2021

Centaurus

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As COVID‐19 drags on and new vaccines promise widespread immunity, the world's attention has turned to predicting how the present pandemic will end. How do societies know when an epidemic is over and normal life can resume? What criteria and markers indicate such an end? Who has the insight, authority, and credibility to decipher these signs? Detailed research on past epidemics has demonstrated that they do not end suddenly; indeed, only rarely do the diseases in question actually end. This article examines the ways in which scholars have identified and described the end stages of previous epidemics, pointing out that significantly less attention has been paid to these periods than to origins and climaxes. Analysis of the ends of epidemics illustrates that epidemics are as much social, political, and economic events as they are biological; the “end,” therefore, is as much a process of social and political negotiation as it is biomedical. Equally important, epidemics end at different times for different groups, both within one society and across regions. Multidisciplinary research into how epidemics end reveals how the end of an epidemic shifts according to perspective, whether temporal, geographic, or methodological. A multidisciplinary analysis of how epidemics end suggests that epidemics should therefore be framed not as linear narratives—from outbreak to intervention to termination—but within cycles of disease and with a multiplicity of endings.

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The Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

Cited by 2 publications

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Best practices for after-action review: turning lessons observed into lessons learned for preparedness policy

Best practices for after-action review: turning lessons observed into lessons learned for preparedness policy

How epidemics end

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