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9 J. Nat'l Sec. L. & Pol'y 81 (2017-2018)
Public Health Emergencies as Threats to National Security

handle is hein.journals/jnatselp9 and id is 86 raw text is: Public Health Emergencies as Threats to National Security James G. Hodge, Jr., JD, LLM* & Kim Weidenaar, JD** INTRODUCTION Protecting the nation from a diverse array of public health threats remains a consummate objective of federal, state, and local governments. Achieving it is no simple task. Threats to the public's health are multifarious, unpredictable, and downright scary in many cases. Media coverage of gruesome deaths from naturally-occurring diseases like Ebola tap into Americans' fears of dangerous, deadly conditions.' Confirmed links between Zika virus and infant micro- cephaly (e.g., small skulls and impaired brains), Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and other disabling conditions shape peoples' perceptions of their own risks of infection.2 Legitimate and irrational fears are stoked by significant levels of distrust of government or industry.3 Virtually every major infectious disease or bioterrorism threat is coupled with loosely-based, albeit well-publicized, con- spiracy theories. They include everything from devious schemes to thin minor- ity populations or stealth efforts to unleash contaminants on an unknowing populace through dangerous vaccines, genetically-altered mosquitos, or other vectors.4 * Professor of Public Health Law and Ethics; Director, Public Health Law and Policy Program; Director, Network for Public Health Law - Western Region Office, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University (ASU). The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals with ASU's Public Health Law and Policy Program for their research and editing assistance: Sarah Wetter, Senior Legal Researcher and J.D. Candidate (2017); Brenna Carpenter, Senior Legal Researcher and J.D. Candidate (2017); and Matt Saria, Researcher and B.S. Candidate (2016). © 2017, James G. Hodge, Jr., and Kim Weidenaar. ** Fellow, Public Health Law and Policy Program; Deputy Director, Network for Public Health Law - Western Region Office, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, ASU. 1. Corey H. Basch et al., Coverage of the Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic in Three Widely Circulated U.S. Newspapers: Implications for Preparedness and Prevention, 4 HEALTH PROMOTION PERSP. 247 (2014). 2. Laura Beil, Women Who Brought Zika Fears Home With Them, N.Y. TIMES (Mar. 15, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/health/zika-virus-pregnant-women-microcephaly-ultrasounds. html. 3. Katie Worth, As Brazil Confronts Zika, Vaccine Rumors Shape Perceptions, PBS (Feb. 16, 2016), http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/as-brazil-confronts-zika-vaccine-rumors-shape-perceptions. 4. Andrew Jacobs, Conspiracy Theories About Zika Spread Through Brazil With the Virus, N.Y. TIMES (Feb. 17, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/worldlamericas/conspiracy-theories-about- zika-spread-along-with-the-virus.html (discussing conspiracy theories attributing the cause of Zika virus to (1) an elitist plot to depopulate the earth and (2) genetically modified mosquitoes released to combat dengue. Additional discussion focuses on the cause of increased microcephaly cases linking it to vaccinations for chickenpox and rubella). 81

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