health
The Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks warn us we must be better prepared if we are to prevent the next pandemic
Surveillance that misses a haemorrhagic fever or fails to consider endemic risks at a departure port will be blind to something far more dangerous
TL;DR
- Two rare disease outbreaks, Andes hantavirus and Bundibugyo Ebola, have caused deaths and triggered costly international responses.
- Both outbreaks demonstrated a failure to anticipate and prevent disease, despite known risks.
- The hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship was not identified for three weeks, allowing it to spread among passengers.
- The Ebola outbreak in the DRC spread for weeks before confirmation as the rare Bundibugyo strain.
- The article advocates for risk-informed precaution, using geographical and historical data to tailor surveillance and response.
- A multidisciplinary body of scientists should continuously map known risks and translate them into geographically tailored protocols.
- Failure to address these surveillance gaps could lead to a pandemic from a novel pathogen or a known virus with enhanced spread capacity.
- The question is not affordability of smarter surveillance, but the cost of ignoring warning signs.