| The uncomfortable question
We still tend to approach emerging infectious diseases as isolated events instead of recurring strategic realities. Over the last several years alone, the world has moved from Covid-19 to mpox to avian influenza concerns to recurring Ebola outbreaks, and now renewed hantavirus discussions. At a minimum, this pattern should force an uncomfortable question: “Are we genuinely building long-term preparedness infrastructure, or are we repeatedly improvising our way from one outbreak cycle to the next?” A national security issue
Increasingly, preparedness should be viewed not only as a public health issue, but also as a national security issue. Covid exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains that many policymakers had underestimated for years. Dependence on overseas manufacturing, limited surge capacity, and concentrated production networks created real operational challenges during a crisis. Those lessons extend well beyond pandemics. Whether the next major threat involves poxviruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, hantavirus, or something not yet widely recognized, the United States benefits from having diversified domestic manufacturing capability that can be mobilized quickly and scaled responsibly. This is not an argument against international collaboration, but relying excessively on a single supplier, a single geography, or a single manufacturing pathway is simply not a resilient long-term preparedness strategy. A competitive necessity
In conversations across the preparedness community, one theme comes up repeatedly: during a crisis, everyone recognizes the importance of readiness, but sustaining momentum between crises remains extraordinarily difficult. That may be the single biggest structural weakness in modern biodefense/biosecurity preparedness. By the time a threat becomes obvious to everyone, valuable response time is often already gone.Maintaining preparedness infrastructure during relatively calm periods is not wasteful. It is insurance. No one questions maintaining military readiness during peacetime. Biosecurity deserves similar strategic treatment. — By MedCity Influencer David A. Dodd |
No comments