<
https://theconversation.com/what-pathogen-might-spark-the-next-pandemic-how-scientists-are-preparing-for-disease-x-223193>
"Before the COVID pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) had made a list
of priority infectious diseases. These were felt to pose a threat to
international public health, but where research was still needed to improve
their surveillance and diagnosis. In 2018, “disease X” was included, which
signified that a pathogen previously not on our radar could cause a pandemic.
While it’s one thing to acknowledge the limits to our knowledge of the
microbial soup we live in, more recent attention has focused on how we might
systematically approach future pandemic risks.
Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously talked about “known
knowns” (things we know we know), “known unknowns” (things we know we don’t
know), and “unknown unknowns” (the things we don’t know we don’t know).
Although this may have been controversial in its original context of weapons of
mass destruction, it provides a way to think about how we might approach future
pandemic threats."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
