Application of Network Analysis into Emergency Response: Focusing on the 2015 Outbreak of the Middle-Eastern Respiratory Syndrome in Korea

Abstract

This paper applies the Social Network Analysis tool to examine the structure of the response network of the Korean Outbreak of the Middle-Eastern Respiratory Syndrome in 2015. Our analysis of the local newspaper articles reveals that the institutional actors which are mainly responsible for addressing epidemics have served as focal points with high degree centrality and betweenness centrality, while the interim entities like the Central MERS Headquarters that were put together for the purposes of coordinating the response activities did not serve as effective coordinators.