Viral Pandemic
Domestic, Global
According to the CDC: A pandemic is a global outbreak of a new or unknown virus that is very different from current and recently circulating human seasonal viruses. Pandemics happen when new (novel) or unknown viruses emerge which can infect people easily and spread from person to person in an efficient and sustained way. Because the virus is new to humans, very few people will have immunity against the pandemic virus, and a vaccine might not be widely available. The new virus will make a lot of people sick. How sick people get, will depend on the characteristics of the virus, and whether or not people have any immunity to that virus, as well as, the health and age of the person being infected.
With travel being easier in the modern world, the speed at which a virus can spread and the global reach of a viral outbreak being worldwide in a matter of days (if not hours), should be of concern – especially if ground zero for the outbreak occurs within our country. Viruses occur naturally; however, one should never rule out the likelihood of a nation state or terrorists developing and deploying an especially virulent strain of a virus to use as a biological weapon against us.
What planning have you done to ensure it doesn’t happen to you?
