News outlets highlight findings from a report by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), titled Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases.

ABC News: Here’s How Prepared Your State Is for an Outbreak
“If you live in Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, New York, or Virginia, congratulations — your state is tied for top billing in terms of preventing, diagnosing, and responding to disease outbreaks, according to a new report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)…” (Barzilay, 12/17).

CIDRAP News: Complacency, underfunding fuel state readiness gaps
“…The Washington, D.C.-based health advocacy group said more than half (28) of states met five or fewer of the 10 indicators that the group uses to gauge the capacity to detect, diagnose, and respond to outbreaks. At a media telebriefing [Thursday], TFAH Executive Director Jeffrey Levi, PhD, said overall preparedness has improved since the 2001 terror and anthrax attacks, but the nation is in a pattern of ebbs and flows driven by newly emerging threats, with a fall back to complacency in the wake of the Ebola outbreak…” (Schnirring, 12/17).

HealthDay: More Than Half of U.S. States Not Well Prepared for Disease Outbreaks: Study
“…[The report] added that the United States must boost efforts to protect Americans from new threats such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and antibiotic-resistant superbugs, along with resurging diseases such as tuberculosis, whooping cough, and gonorrhea…” (Preidt, 12/17).