How Prepared Are We for a Public-Health Emergency?
The article discusses the inadequacies in America's public health preparedness in light of recent hantavirus outbreaks. It highlights the controversial stance of some health officials advocating for a focus on personal health rather than pathogen surveillance. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of effective treatments and the potential for rapid virus transmission among individuals.
- ▪Recent hantavirus outbreaks have raised concerns about public health preparedness in the U.S.
- ▪Health officials have suggested that improving metabolic health is more important than pathogen surveillance.
- ▪The hantavirus can transmit between people and has a high death rate, with no specific vaccines or treatments available.
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CommentHow Prepared Are We for a Public-Health Emergency?The outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola expose the shortsightedness of America’s retreat, under the Trump Administration, from its role as a global-health leader.By Dhruv KhullarMay 24, 2026Photo illustration by Cristiana Couceiro; Source photograph from GettySave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyLast November, Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health and an acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the man has had nearly as many jobs as Marco Rubio—wrote a short piece with the N.I.H.’s principal deputy director for the conservative publication City Journal.
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