50 years ago during a US election year marked by post-Vietnam war disillusionment, post-Watergate cynicism, and bicentennial optimism, three new infectious threats stress-tested the US public health system. Throughout 1976, a series of challenges emerged: an outbreak of swine influenza A (H1N1) among US troops in New Jersey, NJ, USA; a lethal pneumonia cluster tied to the American Legion Convention in Philadelphia, PA, USA; and an unexplained haemorrhagic fever outbreak in Africa. Although the pathogens and locations were different, the challenge was the same: making sound public health decisions under uncertainty without losing trust or inadvertently causing harm.
Kaynak: The Lancet
