Learning from Marburg and Ebola: Strategies for Business Continuity in Viral Outbreaks
Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks (e.g., Ebola, Marburg) are nearly always “spillover” events. An animal, often a bat, comes in contact with a human and transmits a deadly virus that is also highly disruptive to the surrounding community’s well-being and essential daily routines. While models can identify areas where transmission events are more likely to occur, spillover events are rare, low-probability events are notoriously hard to predict.
Recently, Rwanda has done a remarkable job of controlling the current Marburg outbreak; however, things could have gone quite differently. We are not too far removed from the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak that infected nearly 30,000 people, killed more than 10,000 people, and lasted for months before it was contained. Although the human toll of that outbreak was far more significant, Rwanda has implemented some of the same restrictive public health measures used to control the large-scale Ebola outbreak to control the current Marburg outbreak.
Public health measures are most effective when applied early in an outbreak, regardless of the cases observed. Therefore, an outbreak with relatively few cases and deaths can be quite disruptive to the surrounding areas and any local or global business operations. For these reasons, PHC Global recommends that businesses continuously review and practice their emergency operations plans and use current outbreaks to assess their preparedness for future ones.
Even if your company hadn’t experienced any disruptions from the outbreak in Rwanda, would the same have happened if the outbreak had occurred in Kenya? What about Tanzania or Uganda? Would you or other companies have restricted employee travel? What about your supply chain; are there any vulnerable links? Would any necessary components, goods, or services have experienced delays due to local movement restrictions? How resilient is your business to these types of disruptions? It’s best to take inventory and prepare for the inevitable episodic outbreak sooner rather than later. Animals remain reservoirs for viruses, and we remain vulnerable.
When outbreaks occur, early warning helps your business prepare and respond to the threat. Don’t let the next biological threat compromise your business continuity. Sign up for a free trial of PHC Pharos today and equip your business with the tools needed to protect your people, assets, and revenue in our ever-changing world.
