Preventing The Next Public Health Emergency

Author: Khahlil A, Louisy

Publication: Issues in Science & Technology

During the pandemic, small shifts in health data regulation revealed big insights for disease prevention.

By early June 2025, 174 million birds and more than 1,000 herds of dairy cattle across the United States had been affected by the rapidly spreading H5N1 avian flu, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since January 2024, 70 cases of human H5N1 infections have been confirmed, and the first death was reported in January 2025. In the same period, the Kansas City metropolitan area has been dealing with an ongoing tuberculosis outbreak that has ignited fears of the resurgence of other once-controlled diseases. Meanwhile, the worst measles outbreak in decades has claimed three lives in 2025; as of early June, the CDC is reporting almost 1,200 cases across 35 jurisdictions.

Early detection, effective surveillance, and accurate reporting are essential for controlling threats like these before they become full-blown public health emergencies. Unfortunately, these are all areas of chronic underinvestment in the United States. Although the United States has the highest per capita health spending in the world, less than 5% goes to preventive care activities such as disease surveillance, public health education, and research. Funding shortfalls are felt most acutely by state and local health departments, which usually rely on a mix of federal, state, and other funding sources that fluctuate frequently. And, as a recent report from the National Association of County and City Health Officials points out, federal and state public health funding experiences “boom and bust cycles” linked to current events like disease outbreaks. This crisis-driven funding model leaves scant resources for addressing more perennial concerns like data modernization or workforce development in public health offices. Consequently, local agencies at the front lines of outbreak detection are often inadequately equipped with the necessary resources to use and share important disease surveillance data for timely decisionmaking.

In a public health system that is outdated and reactive, Americans are left vulnerable to the next outbreak. To provide better protection, the field of public health technology needs bold federal leadership to prioritize prevention, empower local action, improve coordination, and harness the full potential of modern technology. This transformation can be built upon insights gained from the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed the public health system is capable of rapid innovation at scale.

Public health data systems have been neglected

The problem begins at the local level, where many public health departments face substantial challenges related to accessing, managing, using, and sharing data. Approximately 3,500 local health departments serve as critical nodes of information on community health and disease detection at city, municipality, county, regional, and state levels. These departments are under the control and oversight of the states, with funding, technical assistance, and policy guidance from the federal government.

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