Governments and international health bodies are wholly unprepared for a global flu pandemic that could wipe out almost a billion people, scientists have warned.
Virus simulations conducted at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found the spread of a new pathogen could kill up to 900 million in a matter of years if it started to spread tomorrow.
Researchers concluded that a made-up illness, a new type of parainfluenza known as Clade X, which was spread by coughing would kill 150 million people – almost three times the UK population – in less than two years in the fictional situation.
The simulation was designed so the pathogen wasn’t markedly more dangerous than real illnesses such as Sars – “and illustrates the tightrope governments tread in responding to such illnesses”, says Metro.
Source: The Week UK
