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Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak

Hazard in Public Health

A slow-building, long-duration health hazard, a pandemic or a novel pathogen, that strains every sector at once through illness and absenteeism.

Includes: Pandemic/Epidemic, Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreak

  • Pandemic/Epidemic. A slow-building, long-duration health hazard that strains every sector at once through illness and absenteeism.
  • Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreak. A novel-pathogen hazard with uncertain transmission and severity, where early detection and response shape everything after.

Plans also call it: zoonotic disease, zoonoses, zoonosis

See a sample briefBook a walkthroughAll 31 hazards →

Sample brief

The first page of a Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak brief: likelihood, impact and readiness on your own scale, with each figure sourced.

Evidence brief for Cedar Ridge County (example)

September 14, 2026

Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak

Hazard in Public Health, on the established threats & hazards list

Impact
5432112345

Likelihood

Likelihood
4

Likely — Expected within the decade — roughly once in 1 to 10 years (10–100% chance in any year).

Impact
4

Major — Severe effects — casualties possible, serious damage across a significant share of the jurisdiction, essential services disrupted for weeks, outside assistance needed.

Readiness
2

Low — Some elements of capability are in place, but important gaps remain that could significantly limit the organization's ability to perform effectively. Additional development is needed before the capability can be relied upon.

  • 2source documents
  • 58verified mentions
  • 2federal declarations
  • —NRI risk score
Worked example: Cedar Ridge County is fictional. The scores illustrate the format and are nobody's decision. Open a full sample brief →

The national record

FEMA’s National Risk Index doesn’t model Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak. Your team fills it with local evidence, and Hazzard shows the gap rather than a zero.

How it maps

The same hazard in the vocabularies your plan and FEMA already use.

FEMA National Risk Index
Not covered
FEMA declaration incident type
Biological167 declarations on record
NOAA Storm Events type
Not covered
Hazzard category
Public Health, disease and living systemsincludes Pandemic/Epidemic, Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreak

The national record

What the federal data says about Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak

The same national sources a Hazzard brief starts from. For your jurisdiction we narrow each one to your county and its neighbors.

167 federal declarations since 2020

Declarations FEMA filed as “Biological”, by year (2026 to date)

0901802020: 165 declarations2021: 2 declarations2020: 1652020
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, as of 2026-09-27. Counts distinct disasters; major, emergency and fire-management declarations.

In your plan

What a Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak profile needs, and where each part comes from

A local hazard mitigation plan profiles each hazard the same way (44 CFR 201.6). Here is how Hazzard fills each part for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak.

  1. Location

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    No national layer maps Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak. We draw the geographic extent from your plans, studies and annexes, cited to the page.

  2. Extent

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    The magnitude your plans use for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak (a scale, a depth, an acreage, a duration), read from your documents and cited, so the profile states the strength you plan for.

  3. Previous occurrences

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    Every FEMA declaration filed as Biological that included your county, back to 1953, alongside the events your own records and after-action reports describe.

  4. Probability of future events

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your team decides

    No national dataset gives a frequency for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak. Your team scores likelihood on your scale from the evidence we organize.

  5. Vulnerability and impacts

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(ii)

    Your documents

    The Census population profile and HHS emPOWER counts for context; the consequences themselves come from your plans and exercises.

  6. The assessment itself

    Your team decides

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak are drafted with every source attached, and a person on your team accepts each one. Hazzard never records a score on its own.

How we can help

How we’d help you prepare for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak

  1. 1

    We pull who is most exposed

    HHS emPOWER counts, the Census population profile and any biological declarations for your county.

  2. 2

    We read health and emergency plans together

    Your public-health emergency plan next to the EOP, so what each says about Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak is cited side by side.

  3. 3

    You leave with a cited brief

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak on your own scale, with each figure tied to its source. It is ready for your planning team or council.

Also in Public Health

Preparing for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak

Prepare for Pandemic / Infectious Disease Outbreak with health and emergency plans in one place.

Health emergencies are planned by one office and answered by several. We read both sides so your community's readiness is assessed as a whole. We reply within one business day.

Book a walkthrough

Takes about two minutes. A person reads each request.

Or start by marking your area on the map