Healthcare

POST 1

 It became clear after watching Tracey McNamara’s “The Canaries in the coal mine” TEDx lecture that her ongoing criticism of the public health system is more than justified. This criticism is justified because we have already seen a public health risk where the community was impacted by the West Nile virus spread by birds. The discovery of the West Nile Virus should have served as a lesson in the importance of being prepared for public health emergencies, according to Dr. Tracey McNamara in the September 2000 GAO report on the virus. Unfortunately, the US public health system has yet to do much to exercise prudence in healthcare situations that endanger the lives of people (TEDxTalks, 2018). Dr. Tracey McNamara’s criticism will significantly contribute to streamlining these processes.

          It was made clear that it is crucial to encourage the advancement of zoonotic in Dr. Tracey McNamara’s TED Talk. We need to know more about how diseases might spread from animals to people. We could stop terrible health effects for the nation if we had a better grasp of the conditions that affect both confined and wild animals. We can prevent future pandemics with the aid of this. In fact, because of our strong ties to animals in agriculture, as pets, and in the natural world, zoonotic diseases pose a severe threat to global public health (TEDxTalks, 2018). Zoonosis can also interfere with the trade and production of animal products for food and other purposes. 

          To protect the lives of American presidents, the government must equip the human public health system with modern technology to detect and prevent zoonotic illnesses (Han et al., 2016). At this point, therefore, I defend the continued criticism of Tracey McNamara of the human public health system because a lot of improvements need to be made to these systems to better protect the population from preventable zoonotic diseases. 

POST 2

Dr. McNamara highlights the fact that we need to promote the advancement of zoonotics as many diseases spread from animals to people and that artificial man made bureaucratic divisions are working against us. It’s important that we stop ignoring animals in urban settings as gaps in science unaddressed could identify diseases in these animal populations. She also mentions her work in the discovery of the West Nile Virus in 1999. I think Dr. McNamara’s critique is warranted and it has been proven by the coronavirus as the first infection is linked to a live animal market. Zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) are caused by germs that spread between animals and people and these diseases continue to emerge.They are also incredibly common as scientists estimate more than 6 out of 10 known infectious diseases in the people can be spread from animals and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals (CDC, 2021). Leaders in public health, medicine, multicultural organizations, and global health nonprofits have promoted plans that argue that the best way to address future pandemic catastrophes should entail “detecting and containing emerging zoonotic threats”. Research shows that the spillover of viruses from animals to humans is the major source of pandemic risk (Bernstein et al, 2022). Investing in research for the advancement of zoonotics and how it impacts the health of the human population cannot only improve public health but also prevent it in the future. 

POST 3

Multiple U.S. agencies are engaged in global health security efforts.  For instance, the National Security Council (NSC) is responsible for overall coordination and review of U.S strategies in global health security, including international response.  The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is another example of a U.S. agency involved in large-scale international outbreak response.  The U.S. also played a leading role in the development of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), an initiative to serve toward the progress of attaining a world safe from health threats (Michaud et al., 2021). 

During the Ebola outbreak of 2014, the initial response was inadequate as seen by the increasing rates of transmission in affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.  Then, the U.S. government to reduce the number of Ebola cases or combat the growing epidemic began supporting those countries by sending medical response, financial resources, and technical expertise.  Most of the funding toward the outbreak was directed to international activities, both for initial response and ongoing recovery efforts overseen by multiple agencies such as the DoD, Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  Overall, there were approximately 28,000 cases of Ebola and 11,000 deaths from the outbreak, making it one of the deadliest Ebola outbreaks in West Africa (Kates et al., 2015).  In addition, the Ebola outbreak represents the ongoing threat of emerging infectious diseases which justifies the panic at the time given that the virus is highly contagious, transmitted by direct contact with blood or body fluids (e.g., saliva, urine, tears, sweat, emesis, etc.), and often fatal if untreated.

POST 4

Ebola virus is a viral hemorrhagic fever disease discovered in Sudan in 1976, affecting 284 people with a high fatality ratio. The response to Ebola was justified in order to make everyone aware. This awareness allowed the infrastructure and staff to improve and increase financial aid to reduce the spread of the disease outside of the transmission zone. Communication, in the beginning, was slow to respond. The affected areas’ contact tracing and follow-up interventions are lacking. Health referrals were not given when suspected cases arose, and safe burial practices were not being performed. Despite the increasing demand for case management, the number was insufficient. 

     An implementation was needed to stop the immediate and vigorous intervention from helping stop the spread of the epidemic. International support increased due to many organizations and institutions joining forces in response to the epidemic. In the country, the disease rapidly spread. Media and staff stressed the community’s resistance and fear. The healthcare leadership’s responsibility in the US is to monitor the health conditions overseas, ensuring that no complications spread to the country. However, if a spread was to happen, the country could deal with the infection to prevent breaking into a pandemic. The leadership in 2014 was keen on how Ebola was moving in those affected regions of the world. The feeling was very successful from the CDC, who identified the host (carrier) they deemed “Patient Zero,” who entered the country first. The movements were successfully controlled and reduced the risk of re-infection around the country (Schofield, 2006). 

     During this time, only three exposed Ebola patients were present in the country. This proved to be successful, and the container measure was great. Ebola is a deadly disease, killing an infected person within hours, proving the panic equally justified. With the amount of fear caused, the consequence proved effective in helping improve the response to future disease outbreaks (Jamison, 2006).