Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic?

Authorities believe the coronavirus outbreak originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. While most people in China who have been infected have recovered, the virus’s effects on the nation have been devastating. 

Many Chinese citizens have voiced anger over how their leaders have handled the outbreak. When residents of Wuhan began getting sick, Chinese officials kept information about it from the public. That prevented people from taking precautions to avoid germs, such as skipping large public events.  

As the virus spread, China took the extreme action of shutting down Wuhan—home to 11 million people—and big cities nearby to prevent more people from getting sick. Schools and businesses were closed. Hospitals became overwhelmed with patients.

Experts say the outbreak shows how quickly diseases can circle the globe. The virus began spreading to other nations after infected people traveled from Wuhan.

Indeed, humans—and viruses—are now traveling faster than ever thanks to airplanes. Today, “you can be anywhere in the world in 36 hours,” says Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health security expert. Infected people can travel from one country to another before they even realize they’re sick.

And people are flying more than ever. The primary reason is tourism. The globalization of major industries is also a key factor. China, for instance, produces goods sold around the world, from toys to computers. As its economy has boomed, people have begun traveling to and from China more often for business and leisure. 

In our connected world, it’s critical to quickly respond to disease outbreaks. Typically, public health experts try to contain serious illnesses by isolating sick people at home or in a hospital. Anyone who has had contact with contagious people may be quarantined. 

Meanwhile, experts work to develop treatments as well as vaccines to prevent people from contracting such diseases in the first place. Public health agencies, such as the World Health Organization, help coordinate government responses worldwide and keep the public informed. 

But health experts say much more needs to be done to prevent a massive pandemic in the near future. 

To help people grasp how destructive a pandemic can be, some experts point to the Spanish flu of 1918. The illness could kill within hours. More than 50 million people died from it globally—and that was before air travel was common. A dangerous virus could spread much faster today.

To be ready for such an outbreak, experts say, countries worldwide must better fund and equip their public health systems. Developing new vaccines should be a top priority. More medical staff need to be trained. And more supplies need to be stockpiled so they don’t run out in a crisis. Meanwhile, wealthy nations such as the U.S. must better support health systems in countries with fewer resources—so diseases there can be more rapidly detected and contained. In addition, governments must address the causes of past outbreaks, such as unsafe food sources. 

As health officials work to contain and treat the new coronavirus, they say it should be a wake-up call for an even more dangerous threat in the future. There is little doubt among experts that one is coming. According to Dr. Howard Markel, an expert on pandemics, “It’s not a matter of if, it’s when.”