"If you don't plan for the worst case scenario, when it comes, then you've been grossly negligent and irresponsible." Throwback to when Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the importance of being ready for a pandemic... in 2005. #tbt
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00:00If you look at the normal timing and the evolution of viruses,
00:03there were three pandemics in the 20th century.
00:05We haven't had one for 37 years.
00:08So notwithstanding what's going on in Southeast Asia,
00:12you would say we're about due for the natural evolution of how pandemics occur.
00:30When you think in terms of the possibility of a pandemic flu,
00:36there's a broad spectrum of the possibility of whether it will come,
00:40and if so, to what degree it's going to be really serious.
00:44And we have that from experience in the 20th century,
00:46when you had the 1918 flu,
00:49which was a public health catastrophe of 50 million plus people worldwide died.
00:54Then you have the 1968 pandemic flu,
00:56which was really relatively mild,
00:58not significantly greater than the seasonal flu.
01:01So when you have what's going on in Southeast Asia,
01:03namely the chicken, fox infected, et cetera,
01:06and people getting infected,
01:07although inefficiently, there's now a total of 118 cases,
01:12there's still the potential for there being a very serious public health catastrophe.
01:17The question most Americans have is probably the one that's most difficult to answer.
01:21How scared should people be about this?
01:24As you said, Ron, it's almost impossible to answer that question.
01:28We should be concerned,
01:30but the concern should be an impetus for preparedness
01:35and not an impetus for fear or for panic
01:39and thinking that the end of the world is coming.
01:42And it's an understandable reaction
01:43when the American public sees the flurry of activity
01:47that Susan was referring to,
01:49they immediately interpret that with the inevitability
01:52that there's going to be a catastrophe.
01:53And that's not the case.
01:54In fact, if you look at it in the big picture,
01:58it's unlikely that we're going to have a pandemic flu
02:01that's going to essentially roar through the population of the world
02:04and cause a 1918.
02:06But the possibility exists, likely a small possibility.
02:11So as I was mentioning before,
02:12that spurs us to prepare for the worst case scenario.
02:16And when the American public sees you preparing for the worst case scenario,
02:20sometimes they assume that the worst case scenario is inevitable,
02:23and it's not.
02:24So we should say, stay tuned, monitor and follow what's going on.
02:29It's a serious situation,
02:30but it's not anything for people to be frightened about.
02:33If we're planning for the worst case scenario,
02:34isn't it possible that we're planning and spending money
02:37that we don't have on something that's not going to happen?
02:39That is a possibility and a reality you just have to face
02:43and the balance and priority of things.
02:45If you plan for the worst case scenario and it doesn't come,
02:48people will naturally say, well, then you wasted money.
02:51But if you don't plan for the worst case scenario when it comes,
02:54then you've been grossly negligent and irresponsible.
02:57It's a tough call.