In 2005, the Republic of Korea suffered from the outbreak of MERS(Middle East
respiratory syndrome), leaving 186 infectees and 38 casualties. Responding to this crisis,
Korean government revealed many problems in emergency management policies and was
widely criticized.
A similar case in emergency management and infectious disease control is the 1999
outbreak of West Nile Virus(WNV) outbreak in the United States. During this period, the
state of Oregon effectively responded to WNV through collaboration between state and local
government, being considered as a model case of emergency management.
This article aims to find insights in emergency management and infectious disease control
by analyzing and comparing the responses of Korean MERS outbreak and Oregon's WNV
outbreak focusing on interorganizational collaboration. Insights found in this study include
the role of control tower, the importance of information sharing and disclosure, the role
of existing systems and social networks, and sustainable intergovernmental collaboration.