Research Article
Planning and Response to Communicable Disease on US Domestic Air Flights
David J Dausey1-3,* Paul A Biedrzycki4,5, Thomas Cook1,2, James Teufel1,2, Matthew Vendeville2 and Emily Francis2
1Department of Public Health, Mercyhurst University, Zurn College of Natural and Health Sciences, USA
2Mercyhurst Institute for Public Health, USA
3Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
4City of Milwaukee Health Department, USA
5University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Zilber School of Public, USA
- Corresponding Author:
- David J Dausey
Department of Public Health, Mercyhurst University
Zurn College of Natural and Health Sciences, USA
Tel: 814-824-2268
Email: [email protected]
Received date: Feb 12, 2016; Accepted date: Feb 26, 2016; Published date: March 03, 2016
Citation: Dausey DJ, Biedrzycki PA, Cook T, Teufel T, Vendeville M, et al. (2016) Planning and Response to Communicable Disease on US Domestic Air Flights. Epidemiology (Sunnyvale) 6:225. doi:10.4172/2161-1165.1000225
Copyright: © 2016 Dausey DJ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Globalization along with the ongoing spread of novel infectious diseases including influenza, coronavirus, and Ebola has spurred growing interest and significant research on the impact of commercial air travel as a factor contributing to the spread of disease from one geographic location to another. Despite this, there has been little to no research on the appropriate response to this public health challenge and the coordination of response capabilities across key responders. We conducted a tabletop exercise to explore a scenario that simulated a U.S. domestic commercial flight transporting a passenger infected with probable MERS-CoV. Participants included a broad range of stakeholders in a medium-sized Mid-western U.S. city. The tabletop exercise revealed gaps in public health preparedness among response partners that require improved collaboration among public health, airport operations and airline personnel, and fire and emergency management services.
