Battle Lines Global Health Security: Could War Spark the Next Pandemic?
Oct 15, 2025
Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, brings his expertise in infectious diseases to the discussion. He explores how war zones can propagate diseases, referencing the historical connection between conflict and pandemics. Topics include the threat of 'Disease X' in current conflicts, the rise of antimicrobial resistance due to wartime conditions, and how disruptions in healthcare amplify risks. Amesh emphasizes the need for better preparedness, warning that political divides could leave us vulnerable to the next outbreak.
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Disease As A National Security Threat
- Infectious diseases trigger national security responses because they rapidly disrupt society and daily life.
- Dr. Amesh Adalja argues disease threats have shaped government responses since the Black Death and Peloponnesian War.
Prepare Beyond Named Pathogens
- 'Disease X' is a placeholder for an unknown pathogen not on existing lists of threats.
- Preparing only for named pathogens leaves us blind to novel zoonotic threats, Dr. Adalja warns.
Respiratory Viruses Lead Pandemic Risk
- Respiratory viruses, especially avian influenza and coronaviruses, pose the highest pandemic risk.
- Adalja stresses continual surveillance of many bird-flu strains and coronaviruses for human transmission changes.
