ANIL BATTA
History provides us several illustrations where epidemic outbreaks have led to biological disasters. Accidental or deliberate release of harmful micro-organisms can also lead to biological disasters. With the advent of bio-terrorism, there is a growing realisation that biological agents can also be used as weapons of mass destruction. The spread of Spanish Influenza of 1917-18, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Swine Flu (H1N1), Avian Influenza (H5N1), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), dengue, chikunguniya, Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the recent Zika outbreak in several countries tested the capacities of the public health delivery system in several countries. In India, the spread of dengue, chikunguniya, swine flu, avian influenza in hitherto non-endemic regions in the past few years posed serious challenges to the health delivery architecture in the country. The fallout of the Methyl Iso Cyanide gas leak in the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal in 1984, alleged plague outbreaks in Beed and Surat in 1994, the avian influenza outbreak in 2012 and 2013, swine flu in India in 2014 and 2015 have also been major challenges to the public health delivery systems in the affected areas. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India released the “National Disaster Management Guidelines on the Management of Biological Disasters” in July 2008.
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