title: Epidemics after natural disasters.
abstract: The relationship between natural disasters and communicable diseases is frequently misconstrued. The risk for outbreaks is often presumed to be very high in the chaos that follows natural disasters, a fear likely derived from a perceived association between dead bodies and epidemics. However, the risk factors for outbreaks after disasters are associated primarily with population displacement. The availability of safe water and sanitation facilities, the degree of crowding, the underlying health status of the population, and the availability of healthcare services all interact within the context of the local disease ecology to influence the risk for communicable diseases and death in the affected population. We outline the risk factors for outbreaks after a disaster, review the communicable diseases likely to be important, and establish priorities to address communicable diseases in disaster settings.
authors: Disease Control in Humanitarian Emerfencies, Communicable Disease Cluster, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. watsonj@who.int
authors: John T
authors: JT
authors: Watson
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Gayer
authors: Maire A
authors: MA
authors: Connolly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003441:Crowding; D009033:Culicidae; D004190:Disasters; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors; D012307:Risk Factors; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply; D014947:Wounds and Injuries