Are we Prepared for the Next Flu Pandemic?

Influenza and its ever-present potential to cause global outbreaks of disease, or "flu pandemics," poses one of the world's greatest infectious disease challenges. There has been a lot of progress in pandemic preparedness since the devastating pandemic of 1918, but there is still much to do to improve U.S. and global readiness for the next flu pandemic.

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Are We Prepared?

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Influenza and its ever-present potential to cause global outbreaks of disease, or “flu pandemics,” poses one of the world’s greatest infectious disease challenges. Pandemics happen when new (novel) influenza A viruses emerge which are able to infect people easily and spread from person to person in an efficient and sustained way. People may have little or no immunity to the pandemic virus, so the consequences can be severe. Four influenza pandemics occurred in the past century: 1918, 1957, 1968, and 2009. The 1918 pandemic was the most severe, killing 675,000 Americans and at least 50 million people worldwide.