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We’re Not Prepared to Track Disease Outbreaks in America’s Poorest ZIP Codes

A new study suggests a lack of data for detecting burgeoning flu outbreaks is a “critical blind spot” in the highest poverty neighborhoods.

Families await their flu shots in Provo, Utah. A new study finds that U.S. data is ill-equipped to track potential flu outbreaks among low-income populations, who also have lower rates of immunization. 

Families await their flu shots in Provo, Utah. A new study finds that U.S. data is ill-equipped to track potential flu outbreaks among low-income populations, who also have lower rates of immunization. 

Photographer: GEORGE FREY/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Throughout this pandemic, America has been playing catch-up: By the time the U.S. reported its first coronavirus-related deaths in March, Covid-19 had been circulating inside communities for weeks. And by the time states began breaking down their numbers by race, the virus had been ravaging Black and low-income neighborhoods at a disproportionate rate.

How prepared the U.S. is to fight emerging infectious diseases like Covid-19 and recurring ones like seasonal influenza depends greatly on the government’s ability to monitor outbreaks so leaders can make timely decisions during—or even before—a public health emergency. President Barack Obama called this kind of disease monitoring “a national security imperative” in 2012 when he created the first national biosurveillance strategy.