A century ago, the 1918 influenza pandemic infected a third of the world's population and killed 50 to 100 million people. What can a flu like this do today? This is the question asked by Bill Gates and health experts. They believe that a flu like this could kill 33 million people today in six months. They even created a simulation of the spread of the disease around the world, which is very similar to one popular mobile game.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was so deadly and contagious that it took only five weeks for it to spread across the United States. Within a year, the virus had infected 500 million people worldwide. Between 50 and 100 million people have died from the disease.
Since then, medicine has improved significantly, but we began to live in a more globalized world. People constantly travel abroad and oceans, carrying pathogens with them. Experts believe that if the same deadly flu appears now, it will spread so quickly that it could kill 33 million people in just six months.
Bill Gates often mentions the possibility of a new virus emerging. He believes that the world should prepare for the fight against the pandemic as seriously as it prepares for war. During his talk at the Massachusetts Medical Society / New England Journal of Epidemics, Gates showed a simulation that demonstrates how the disease will spread throughout the world.
New pathogens are constantly emerging. Alternatively, they can be created by humans in private laboratories. The influenza virus is currently believed to be a prime candidate for the next global pandemic. Some experts believe that this is guaranteed to happen sooner or later. Moreover, the flu already kills from 291 thousand to 646 thousand people every year.
Ernest Vasilevsky