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US Looking Past Ebola to Prepare for Next Outbreak

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ASSOCIATED PRESS                                   Nov. 23, 2014
By Lauran Neergarrd Medical Writer

The next Ebola or the next SARS. Maybe even the next HIV. Even before the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is brought under control, public health officials are girding for the next health disaster.

"It's really urgent that we address the weak links and blind spots around the world," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press. "Ebola is a powerful reminder that a health threat anywhere can affect us."

Ebola sprang from one of those blind spots, in an area that lacks the health systems needed to detect an outbreak before it becomes a crisis. Now the Obama administration has requested $600 million for the CDC to implement what it calls the Global Health Security Agenda, working with an international coalition to shore up disease detection in high-risk countries and guard against the next contagion....

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/us-past-ebola-prepare-outbreak-27114560

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HOMELAND SECURITY NEWSWIRE                              Nov. 25, 2014

Hospitals find it difficult to remain fully prepared for disease outbreaks because they rarely occur and preparation and frequent training are expensive. Public health professionals and infectious disease experts are working to ensure that lessons learned and protocols put in place in response to the Ebola outbreak will be used to prevent and respond to future virus and disease outbreaks.

Public health professionals and infectious disease experts are working to ensure that lessons learned and protocols put in place in response to the Ebola outbreak will be used to prevent and respond to future virus and disease outbreaks. “The mantra is, ‘Don’t be the next Dallas,’” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases for the University of Utah health system. The Los Angeles Times notes that hospitals strive for a balance between preparation and overreaction when planning for the possibility of an outbreak or a deadly virus like Ebola, the flu, or a less popular infectious disease.
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http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20141125-public-health-officials-work-to-ensure-that-the-lessons-of-ebola-are-not-forgotten

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