Epidemics after Natural Disasters

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Watson, John T. ; Gayer, Michelle ; Connolly, Maire A.
• Description:
  The relationship between natural disasters and communicable diseases is frequently misconstrued. The risk for outbreaks is often presumed to be very high in the chaos that follows natural disasters, a fear likely derived from a perceived association between dead bodies and epidemics. However, the risk factors for outbreaks after disasters are associated primarily with population displacement. The availability of safe water and sanitation facilities, the degree of crowding, the underlying health status of the population, and the availability of healthcare services all interact within the context of the local disease ecology to influence the risk for communicable diseases and death in the affected population. We outline the risk factors for outbreaks after a disaster, review the communicable diseases likely to be important, and establish priorities to address communicable diseases in disaster settings.
• Subjects:
  Animals Communicable Diseases Crowding Culicidae Disasters Disease Outbreaks Disease Reservoirs Epidemiology Humans Insect Vectors Outbreaks Perspective Risk Assessment Risk Factors Surveillance Water Microbiology Water Supply Wounds And Injuries

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 13(1):1-5.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:0d41ec774f3be24b98e59e54131611271702e738d42ef3e9bab17c44ffab16ef
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/16434/cdc_16434_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 52.91 KB ]