In:

The New England Journal of Medicine

Authors:

Peter Sands, M.P.A., Carmen Mundaca-Shah, M.D., Dr.P.H., and Victor J. Dzau, M.D.

Pandemics and epidemics have ravaged human societies throughout history. The plague, cholera, and smallpox killed tens of millions of people and destroyed civilizations. In the past 100 years, the “Spanish Flu” of 1918–1919 and HIV–AIDS caused the deaths of nearly 100 million people.

Advances in medicine have transformed our defenses against the threat of infectious disease. Better hygiene, antibiotics, diagnostics, and vac- cines have given us far more effective tools for preventing and responding to outbreaks. Yet the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the recent West African Ebola outbreak show that we cannot be complacent (Fig. 1). Infectious- disease outbreaks that turn into epidemics and potential pandemics can cause massive loss of life and huge economic disruption.

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