Preparing For Disease X With Special Supplement Of Health Security Highlights NETEC

More than two dozen healthcare experts and researchers from the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC).

Including 10 Regional Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs) demonstrate the inextricable link between infectious disease preparedness and health security in Special Pathogens Readiness in the United States: From Ebola to COVID-19 and Beyond, a special supplement to the June issue of Health Security released in full on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. 

Leveraging their experiences serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and their expertise in infectious disease management, the authors address the necessity of special pathogen preparedness on a global scale: from the critical contributions of U.S. regional special pathogens programs in COVID-19 response, to ameliorating crisis conditions in pandemic-strained healthcare infrastructure, the importance of international collaboration in biocontainment, and beyond. 

“We find ourselves living in an age of epidemics. From HIV to West Nile to SARS to Ebola to COVID to Monkeypox, dangerous outbreaks of emerging and reemerging pathogens are happening with increasing frequency,” says Dr. Eric Toner, guest editor of Health Security and Senior Associate with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Well prepared hospitals with the capability of handling high consequence pathogens has never been more important. The work of NETEC in education and training about special pathogens needs to be documented and shared broadly.” 

Released as global cases of special pathogens like Monkeypox are on the rise and the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Special Pathogens Readiness in the United States: From Ebola to COVID-19 and Beyond provides sustained, in-depth analysis of the special pathogens ecosystem in the U.S. and abroad, moving infectious disease preparedness forward in a time when healthcare agencies must prepare for both known, and heretofore unknown, pathogenic threats.  

Read the Health Security special supplement here. For more about NETEC’s training and support services, or to speak to a NETEC expert, visit NETEC’s online service request portal or email info@netec.org. 

NETEC  

NETEC’s mission is to set the gold standard for special pathogen preparedness and response across health systems in the U.S. with the goals of driving best practices, closing knowledge gaps, and developing innovative resources.

Established in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following the successful treatment of Ebola patients in 2014,  NETEC works to build a sustainable infrastructure and culture of readiness by leveraging the unique expertise of regional partners and federal agencies to assess healthcare facility readiness, train providers, provide technical assistance, and build a rapid research infrastructure.

Visit NETEC.org for more information.  

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