2020-02-10 Bloomberg Businessweek

(Darren Dugan) #1
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◼ REMARKS Bloomberg Businessweek February 10, 2020

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● Asepidemicsspreadwith
unprecedentedspeed,publicpolicy
is notkeepingpace

● ByBrianBremner,RobertLangreth,
andJamesPaton

Intheevolutionaryarmsracebetweenhumanityandthe
microbes,thebugsaremakinga comeback.Yes,we’vecon-
quereddiseasessuchassmallpoxandpolio,anddeaths
fromcommunicablediseaseshavebeenfallingworldwide.
Butsince1970,morethan1,500newpathogenshavebeen
discovered,accordingtotheWorldHealthOrganization,
and“epidemicsinthe21stcenturyarespreadingfasterand
fartherthanever.Outbreaksthatwerepreviouslylocalized
cannowbecomeglobalveryrapidly.”
Inlate 2002 anairborneillness,dubbedsevereacute
respiratory syndrome, emerged in China’s southern
Guangdongprovince,thenquicklyspreadacrosstheborder
andkilled 774 peoplefromAsiatoCanada.In 2009 a novel
influenzavirus,H1N1,advancedworldwideinnineweeks
andmayhaveresultedinasmanyas575,000fatalities.The
newvirusfromcentralChinathat’ssparkedglobalalarm,a
coronavirusknownas2019-nCoVanda closecousintoSARS,
reached fourcontinentsinaboutfiveweeks.
As newerthreatssurface,suchasMiddleEastrespiratory
syndrome(MERS)in2012,olderscourgeslikecholera,plague,
and yellowfeverflareupwithdisturbingregularity.Even
worse, theantibioticsthatrevolutionizedhealthcareinthe
last centuryarelosingtheirpunchasnewstrainsofinfec-
tious diseases,especiallytuberculosis,becomemoreresistant
to multidrugtreatments.“We’vecreatedaninterconnected,
dynamicallychangingworldthatprovidesinnumerable
opportunitiestomicrobes,”saysRichardHatchett,a former
U.S. adviseronpublichealthemergenciesandheadofthe
CoalitionforEpidemicPreparednessInnovationsinOslo.“If
there’s weaknessanywhere,there’sweaknesseverywhere.”

Therichworldhasthescientificsmartstoimproveglobal
biosecurity.And,infact,there’sbeenrealprogress,withbet-
terinformationsharingandtheintroductionofimproved
gene-sequencingtechnologies.What’smissingisa long-
termfocus.Witheachnewoutbreakcomesglobalpanicand
momentaryresolve,onlytogivewaytostudiedinactiononce
thecrisissubsides.We’renowherenearbeingpreparedfora
truepandemic,suchaswouldoccurif deadlybirdflumutated
tobecomemoretransmissiblebetweenhumans.
MicrosoftCorp.co-founderBillGates,whosefoundation
hasspentvastsumsdevelopingvaccinesanddrugsagainst
emergingstrainsandpromisedupto$100milliontorespond
totheepidemic,warnedina 2018speechthatthe“world
needstoprepareforpandemicsinthesameseriouswayit
preparesforwar.”Wecertainlyweren’tonwarfootingfor
theviraloutbreakinChina.
Oneobviouslessonistheneedtoshutdownorheavily
regulatefoodmarketswhereliveanimalsandfreshlyslaugh-
tered,unwrappedmeatcommingleamidthrongsofshop-
pers.Theseso-calledwetmarkets,commoninChinaand
SoutheastAsia,areunsanitaryandteemwithgerms,mak-
ingthemtheperfectbreedinggroundfordeadlypathogens.
About70%ofallpathogensidentifiedinthepast 50 years
areofanimalorigin,andthenovelcoronaviruscausing
havocinChinais closelyrelatedtostrainsknownforinfect-
ingprimarilybats,pigs,andotherspecies.It hastheability
tomigratefromanimalstohumans—andfromonehuman
toanother.
Manyearlycaseshavebeenlinkedtoa marketinWuhan
thatsoldwildanimalsforfood.“Ithinktheyshouldclose
themall,”saysMarie-PauleKieny,directorofresearchat
Inserm,France’snationalhealthresearchorganization.
“There’snorisk-proofworld,butasmuchaspossible,
reducingthethreatis thewaytogo.”
Anothertargetisbetterlivestockmanagementinless
developedpartsoftheworld,especiallyIndia,whereover-
useofantibioticsbypoultryproducershasgivenriseto
antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a 2016 Bloomberg News inves-
tigation showed. Some 2 billion people don’t have access
to toilets; inadequate sanitation results in 432,

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