After Ebola was found in US, health officials put in place a strategy to prepare hospitals to deal with patients who had similar diseases, according to an article on the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences website. Federal funding for this program is set to expire this year and Congress did not include funding for most of the program in the 2020 budget.
Despite flaws with the existing tiered system for dealing with special pathogens, it’s a more comprehensive and better resourced approach than what was in place before the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic.
While many dangerous pathogens, including the disease now spreading in China, can be treated at run-of-the mill hospitals in the United States, the cost can be prohibitive.
Hospitals are unlikely to invest the necessary resources to prepare for somewhat improbable events like an Ebola epidemic in the United States.
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