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Of the 25 Most-Vulnerable Countries, 22 Are in Africa, and the Other Three Are Afghanistan, Yemen, and Haiti

• Conflict or recent conflict is present among more-vulnerable countries. Seven of the ten most-vulnerable countries are current conflict zones.
• Of the 30 most-vulnerable countries, 24 form a solid, near-contiguous belt from the edge of West Africa to the Horn of Africa in Somalia — a disease hot spot belt. Were a communicable disease to emerge within this chain of countries, it could easily spread across borders in all directions.

The 25 Least-Vulnerable Countries Are in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, with Robust Democracies, Economies, and Health Systems

• The six least-vulnerable countries include all four Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Canada.
• The 25 least-vulnerable countries tend to have larger medical workforces and medical expenditures; better health indicators; less corrupt and more-stable (usually democratic) governments; better human rights; and stronger economic development, transportation infrastructure, and technological sophistication.

A Broad Range of Factors Collectively Shapes a Country's Resilience to Infectious Diseases, Rather Than a Single Factor or Domain

• A high vulnerability score alone does not necessarily condemn a country to poor outcomes with regard to disease outbreaks.
• Targeted, timely, and culturally sensitive interventions in public health, health care, incident management, and governance, as well as prompt global aid response, can help in mitigating an infectious disease outbreak, as seen in the examples of Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.