Are We Prepared for a Zombie Disease Outbreak in Canada?

Are We Prepared for a Zombie Disease Outbreak in Canada?

The popular culture has always wet our appetite with sensationalizing horror stories such as the walking deceased or the zombie apocalypse. It has always been a topic of conversation at get-togethers, but quite often, hardly discussed professionally in medical circles. While it might seem like a far-fetched idea, a zombie outbreak is not impossible, and experts say we need to be prepared.

First, what is a zombie disease outbreak? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a zombie outbreak as a situation where a new disease suddenly spreads through a population, causing confusion, fear, and possibly victims arising from dwindling resources. The situation becomes out of control and, in some cases, triggers irrational and inhuman acts of violence.

The emergence of a zombie disease is not completely out of the realm of possibility. A similar case is the emergence of the coronavirus (Covid-19) which has crippled almost every aspect of human life, prompting the World Bank to predict this pandemic would plunge developing economies into their worst recession since the 1700s.

With the current state of affairs worldwide, it’s now appropriate to consider if Canada is ready to manage a zombie outbreak. In 2014, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) developed the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Planning Guidance for the Health Sector. The guidance is designed to help health care providers and settings prepare for and respond to pandemic influenza. But we should ask ourselves, is the plan comprehensive enough?

Zombie diseases, like most pandemic disease outbreaks, quickly spread, and containment becomes a challenge. As we saw with the Covid-19 outbreak, some governments and health organizations were not prepared enough to face the pandemic. It’s evident that the PHAC needs to revisit its guidance and equip it with plans geared towards handling zombie outbreaks.

Moreover, the plan needs to address critical issues such as a robust vaccine strategy, provisions of enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies, disease surveillance to detect possible outbreaks early, and an effective communication framework.

We can learn from countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, which handled the Covid-19 pandemic effectively due to proper planning, alertness and prompt response measures.

Zombie outbreaks might seem like a far-fledged idea from a science fiction movie, but they present real threats. We must be proactive in preparedness and response measures to ensure that we can control the virus and prevent it from wreaking havoc.

In conclusion, while preparing for a zombie outbreak requires taking unlikely scenarios into account, it remains critical to consider such pandemics in our planning frameworks. If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that responding to diseases, no matter how severe, requires preparedness, planning, and possibly rethinking of our public health infrastructures to address such events correctly. Thus, it’s paramount that health practitioners and policymakers emphasize equipping themselves with the necessary tools and resources to prepare for, prevent and control zombie disease outbreaks if they ever happen.

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