HCIDs are acute human infectious diseases with high illness and case-fatality rates, few or no available effective treatment or prevention options, and the ability to spread in the community and within health care settings. Those characteristics lead to significant risks to patients and their close contacts, health care workers, laboratory personnel, and communities exposed to an outbreak. CDC describes aspects of health care system preparedness for and response to HCIDs, including the role of high-level isolation units, ensuring safe clinical laboratory capabilities and waste management, increasing availability of medical countermeasures, coordinating with partners and systems of care, and communicating with the public.
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