Public Health Preparedness

By now we have all heard of the outbreak of Hanta virus on a Dutch cruise ship.  In a way it is a kind of fire drill for how well we are prepared for an outbreak of a contagious disease.  The disease isn't particularly contagious, and it is "mostly" spread by rodents.  However it is serious and lethal, with a fatality rate of nearly 50%. And it has affected some American citizens. And it is the Andes strain, which can be transmitted person to person, though it requires close contact, and doesn't appear to spread through the air like Covid. 

There is a good discussion in an interview on The Bulwark with epidemologist, Katelyn Jetalina:

Why is the CDC Silent About the Hantavirus Outbreak? (w/ Katelyn Jetelina)

The interview was meant to be somewhat reassuring, but wasn't entirely.  I didn't realize that the US had dropped out of WHO, the World Health Organization, in the second Trump term. The CDC is working with WHO, with special permission (from who? It wasn't entirely clear if this came from WHO, or the US government). 

The staff of the CDC has been reduced by a third, by DOGE.  Dr. Jetelina was one of the people who were laid off.  

A Nebraska connection: Nebraska Medicine/UNMC asked to monitor U.S. citizens from cruise ship hantavirus outbreak | Newsroom | University of Nebraska Medical Center

"Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have been asked by federal partners to receive and monitor U.S. citizens from the cruise ship associated with a hantavirus outbreak. These individuals will be observed in the National Quarantine Unit, located on the campus of Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC. Nebraska Medicine and UNMC are working closely with the Douglas County Health Department, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and federal health partners to coordinate the effort."

"The National Quarantine Unit is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the United States, designed specifically to safely house and monitor people who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases. “We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” said Michael Ash, MD, CEO of Nebraska Medicine. “Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community. We are proud to support this national effort.”

"...Nebraska Medical Center also is home to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, a highly specialized facility designed to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases. Should anyone develop symptoms, they can be safely treated in this unit."

It's good to know that we have resources in the US, but it is not reassuring that we are no longer coordinated with the WHO.  If we had a more contagious disease, or if this one took a more contagious turn, we are ill prepared.