Crimson Contagion

Crimson Contagion was a simulation administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from January to August 2019 that tested the capacity of the U.S. federal government and twelve U.S. states to respond to a severe influenza pandemic originating from China.

Background

The Crimson Contagion scenario was a hypothetical outbreak of a novel strain of influenza, H7N9, which is a type of Avian Influenza. The exercise involved a scenario in which tourists returning from China spread the disease in their home countries, with the first detection in the United States occurring in Chicago.

Simulation

The simulation was designed to test the nation's capacity to respond to a large-scale outbreak. The exercise revealed that the U.S. was unprepared for a pandemic, with issues including a lack of funding, confusion about who was in charge, and a lack of coordination between federal, state, and local governments.

Findings

The exercise found that the U.S. was "underfunded, underprepared, and uncoordinated" in the face of a pandemic. It also found that the U.S. lacked the manufacturing capacity to produce necessary medical equipment, such as ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), in a timely manner.

Aftermath

The findings of the Crimson Contagion exercise were presented in a draft report in October 2019, just months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exercise has been cited as evidence of the U.S. government's awareness of the threat posed by pandemics and its lack of preparedness to deal with them.

See also

• Pandemic
• Influenza pandemic
• COVID-19 pandemic

External links

• Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded (The New York Times)