London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Recent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have occurred throughout history and are here to stay. Outbreaks of Zika, SARS, Chikungunya, Influenza, Yellow Fever, diphtheria and Ebola have shown we need to be able to coordinate responses to disease outbreaks, particularly in low-and middle-income countries to prevent and reduce the impact of outbreaks for better local and global health.

The course

On this free online course you will explore disease outbreaks, discovering what outbreaks are and why they matter, as well as the different responses to outbreaks. You will also consider the future of outbreak preparedness. The course focuses on low- and middle-income countries that bear a high burden of human, social and economic impacts of disease outbreaks.

You will hear from a range of experts across disciplines including epidemiology, microbiology, clinical medicine, social science, health policy, and health systems exploring:

• What are outbreaks and why do they matter?
• How do we prepare for and respond to outbreaks?
• What is the future of outbreak preparedness and response?

Who is this course for?

This course is for those interested in, studying or working in global and public health. This includes government stakeholders; health practitioners and NGO employees - particularly those working in countries regularly affected by infectious disease outbreaks.

The course will be available in the following languages: English, Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish.

Main contributors

• Action Contre La Faim
• Chatham House, The Royal Institute for International Affairs
• Department for International Development
• Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network
• International Severe Acute Respiratory & Emerging Infection Consortium
• Liberia Ministry of Health
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Médecins Sans Frontières
• National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania
• National University of Ireland Galway
• National University of Singapore
• Nigeria Centre for Disease Control
• Public Health England
• Save The Children
• UK Public Health Rapid Support Team
• UNICEF
• World Health Organization