Affiliations: Center for Disaster Management, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Louise K. Comfort, Center for Disaster Management, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract: The escalation of Ebola from December, 2013 - December, 2014, represents a
classic wicked problem. Logical steps taken to limit the disease encountered
unexpected responses and failed to curb the rapidly escalating transmission.
As Ebola escalated, the scale of inter-organizational response exceeded the
capacity of organizations at different jurisdictional levels of operation
that had responsibilities for health emergencies. We examine the lack of
information that hampered early recognition of risk, consequent failures in
communication that fueled the escalation of Ebola, and the sobering lack of
capacity in public organizations to stop the spread of Ebola. We use a
complex adaptive systems framework to examine interactions among
organizations, process tracing of key decisions, and network analysis based
on data coded from the United Nations Relief Web situation reports to
identify the networks of actors engaged in this response. Through the
networks, we trace the information flow that gradually lessened uncertainty,
informed local actors, and contributed to the eventual containment of the
disease. We conclude that timely, valid information mobilized through a
complex, adaptive system of systems serves a primary role in creating a
basis for collective action to mitigate the uncertainty, misinformation, and
mistrust that spurred the escalation of the Ebola disease.
Keywords: Ebola, network analysis, wicked problem, complex adaptive system
