Public Health Institutions and Major Epidemic Prevention and Control—Narrative Analysis Based on American CDC Control of Ebola Virus

Abstract

In the past 10 years, various sudden public outbreaks of diseases worldwide have posed great threats to the economic and social development of countries. However, there is a lack of case studies and empirical studies on the fight against major outbreaks in foreign public health institutions. Based on a review of classical materials and narrative research methods, this study combs the institutional profile, function allocation, and funding input of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and focuses on the CDC’s important measures and experiences in preventing and controlling the Ebola virus in West Africa during 2014–2015. According to the research, the main characteristics of CDC’s epidemic prevention and control in the United States are effective organizational structure and system, as well as the abilities of emergency management of rapid response. Furthermore, these two advantages and characteristics have penetrated the construction of the incident management system, adoption of specialized technical means and tools, and wide cooperation network and organizational coordination. Accordingly, the enlightenment of public health institutions regarding “epidemic prevention” and “anti-epidemic” is proposed from two aspects: system construction and ability enhancement.