Public Health Emergency of International Concern second PHEIC was issued in May 2014 with the resurgence of polio after its near-eradication, deemed "an extraordinary event." On Friday, August 8, 2014, the World Health Organization declared its third Public Health Emergency of International Concern in response to the outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa. On Monday, February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared its fourth PHEIC in response to clusters of microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome in the Americas, which at the time were suspected to be associated with the ongoing outbreak of Zika virus. Later research and evidence bore out these concerns; in April, the WHO
International Health Regulations that can be taken to improve future responses to outbreaks. [3] One publication reviewed seven of these major reports and identified areas of consensus on action. [4] The seven reports noted inadequate compliance with WHO’s International Health Regulations as a major contributor to the slow response to Ebola. They found three major obstacles that contributed to poor compliance: 1) countries’ core capacities, 2) unjustified trade and travel restrictions, and 3) inability to ensure that governments report outbreaks quickly. · Core Capacity The IHR requires countries to assess their disease surveillance and response capacities and to identify if they can adequately