Emergency Response & Recovery: Stories & Blogs
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CDC workspace at the US Embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti during the Hurricane Matthew response in October 2016 (photo courtesy of Luis Hernandez, CDC)
Learn more about ERRB work and accomplishments through our stories and blogs.
CDC Establishes Command Center in Response to Hurricane Matthew
On October 3, 2016, as Haiti braced itself for the onslaught of Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 hurricane, DGHP’s Emergency Response and Recovery Branch (ERRB) swung into action. For the first time, the team activated the Incident Management System (IMS) of ERRB’s Operations Room to support Hurricane Matthew international response efforts.
March 24, 2017
Global Rapid Response Team: Enhancing CDC’s Global Emergency Response Capacity
Keeping the world safe from diseases requires the right people, surveillance, labs, public health organizations and a way to manage and integrate these elements into effective response systems. In recent years there have been a number of severe global public health emergencies including population displacements, infectious disease outbreaks, and natural disasters.
March 24, 2017
Global Response Preparedness Work in Jordan
DGHP’s Emergency Response and Recovery Branch’s Global Response Preparedness Team (GRPT) is helping Jordan build sustainable capacity to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. Through two separate, partner-based capacity building programs, GRPT is making a difference in emergency preparedness and response in Jordan.
March 24, 2017
GDD Operations Center: Detecting and Monitoring Health Threats Across the Globe 24/7
In today’s interconnected world, a disease threat anywhere is a threat everywhere. The public health emergencies following the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak and the ongoing Zika outbreak in the Americas have demonstrated that public health threats and disease outbreaks are not restricted by geographic boundaries. Yet emergency preparedness…
March 24, 2017
The Consequences of Contaminated Water
We all remember when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, killing 230,000 people and displacing over a million. Fewer people remember that roughly nine months after the earthquake, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) confirmed cases of cholera for the first time in Haiti. Since the emergence of cholera…
March 21, 2017
Global Rapid Responders — Our Boots on the Ground Defense
Because our world is more connected than ever, a disease threat that occurs anywhere can very quickly spread across boundaries and become a threat to people worldwide. New microbes are emerging and spreading, drug resistance is rising, and limited biosafety and security measures in laboratories around the world…
February 15, 2017
CDC and Emory University Join Forces to Strengthen Responses to Public Health Emergencies
It’s no secret that a passion for health and rapid response is a crucial component of finding and ending disease outbreaks. However, this can only go so far without a solid public health foundation to efficiently and effectively respond to public health emergencies, particularly in disaster and conflict settings…
February 15, 2017
Early Warning Alert and Response Network Put the Brakes on Deadly Diseases
Fast detection of a polio outbreak in Somalia helped responders stop the disease from spreading quickly. Without Somalia’s surveillance system—Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN)—a highly infectious disease may have taken root.
December 12, 2016
Everyone Needs Somewhere to Go: World Toilet Day 2016
We use toilets every day – at home, school, and work – yet 40% of the world’s population does not have this luxury. Clean and safe toilets are more than just a place to use the restroom. They are essential for health, human dignity, and improved education.
November 17, 2016
Hurricane Matthew and Haiti: Putting CDC Expertise to Work
Life can quickly move from hard to catastrophic when a vulnerable island nation lies directly in the path of a Category 4 storm, as Haiti did when Hurricane Matthew roared ashore to bludgeon its remote southwest region on October 4th.
October 19, 2016
How Better Data Means Better Decisions in Emergencies
In an emergency, health workers need access to information quickly. They need to know the facts: Where is the outbreak occurring? Who is it affecting? How is it spreading? People on the ground may each have critical pieces of the puzzle, but they may not be connecting. What’s needed is a central system…
September 7, 2016
A WASH Engineer Follows Cholera from the Source
When I went to Tanzania to investigate the same disease in 2016, contaminated water was still an issue. But I didn’t find just a pump. Instead, I found a whole truckload of sources.
August 26, 2016
Detecting Disease 24/7: On the Lookout for Health Threats Across the Globe
In December 2015, four men who lived, worked, and ate in one neighborhood in Angola developed the same symptoms and died. Our team at the Global Disease Detection (GDD) Operations Center received a tip from the CDC country office in Angola and quickly brought together experts from around CDC…
August 26, 2016
Navigating Recovery in Haiti
In December 2015, four men who lived, worked, and ate in one neighborhood in Angola developed the same symptoms and died. Our team at the Global Disease Detection (GDD) Operations Center received a tip from the CDC country office in Angola and quickly brought together experts from around CDC…
August 26, 2016
Preparedness for Millions
Imagine a gathering on the scale of the Hajj or the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but instead of descending upon a city, more than a million religious pilgrims gather along the edges of a Hindu temple pool, waiting their turn to take a dip in the holy waters…
August 26, 2016
Protecting Mothers and Babies
Humanitarian emergencies often disproportionately affect women of reproductive age and children. During a response, applying public health approaches that are both locally adapted and sustainable can improve outcomes and strengthen the resilience of …
August 26, 2016
A Rapid Responder Engages a Community to Fight Zika
On my most recent deployment to Panama with CDC’s Global Rapid Response Team, my ability to explain the unknown became a critical skill. I arrived on the scene just as the Zika outbreak was taking hold.
August 26, 2016
Healing Hearts and Minds in Sri Lanka
Looking at survivors of conflict, it can be easy to miss the mental and emotional damage they are suffering. But we can’t underestimate the effects of lingering psychological issues like…
August 26, 2016
Help and Hope for Syrian Refugees: The Many Ways We Take Action in a Crisis
The scale of the Syrian crisis is nearly beyond comprehension: 4.9 million refugees, 6.6 million people displaced inside Syria’s borders. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. What is it like to be on the ground?
August 26, 2016
One Humanity: Supporting Mothers and Infants in the Syrian Refugee Crisis
The scale of the Syrian crisis is nearly beyond comprehension: 4.8 million refugees, 8.7 million people displaced inside Syria’s borders. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
August 19, 2016
Partner Story: Laboratory and Field Partner Collaborations in Ethiopia Key to Evaluation of Performance of UDDTs
In 2014 CDC was awarded an R2HC (Research for health in humanitarian crisis) grant with the objective of determining the safety and acceptability of urine-diversion dry toilets (UDDTs) in refugee camp settings to provide guidance on their use in humanitarian crises.
August 18, 2016
Vietnam: Increased Surveillance Leads to Detection of Zika Virus
Vietnam EOC gathered for a briefing about the Zika virus. Along with WHO, CDC experts Anthony Mounts, Trang Do, Michael Johansson, and Leisha Nolen provided consultation during the meeting. CDC Vietnam will enhance surveillance and temperature monitoring at border control areas and alert pregnant women to be aware and report any signs and symptoms.
May 23, 2016
Vietnam: Empowering Communities to Detect Potential Outbreaks Early
Diseases may start in local communities before they spread and become widespread outbreaks. Vietnam is harnessing the power of community members to identify potential outbreaks earlier to shorten response times and avert epidemics. A parent hears rumors from other parents about several children bitten by a rabid dog…
May 23, 2016
Mabinty Tarawally — 1-1-7 Hotline Responder
Mabinty Tarawally has worked as a 1-1-7 Call Center responder for almost a year. When she began, the national call center consisted of seven people who handled 100 calls a day in a small room at the World Health Organization’s Sierra Leone country office. Tarawally joined the 1-1-7 Call Center in September 2014, and has…
August 4, 2015
Working collaboratively to support Ebola response efforts in Sierra Leone
CDC’s FETP partnerships with African nations continue to be leveraged beyond their national borders and for new and unexpected health threats. Dr. Bao-Ping’s blog posted originally on March 31 is being highlighted again as a reminder of how FETPs support global as well as individual nation’s health security.
Posted June 15, 2015
Emergency Response and Recovery: Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines
In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan struck the eastern side of the Philippine Islands, home to 11 million people…
Posted June 5, 2015
Implications of Latrines on Women’s and Girls’ Safety
Michelle Hynes and Michelle Dynes are epidemiologists in CDC’s Emergency Response and Recovery Branch. They took a moment out of their hectic schedules to talk about their work related to World Toilet Day. Dr. Hynes and Dr. Dynes have been involved in public health activities linking the safety of women and girls to the locations…
Posted November 14, 2014
- Page last reviewed: June 12, 2017
- Page last updated: June 12, 2017
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