We started this conversation yesterday.   Because if we don’t prepare for the next pandemic, we’ll find that it’s coming by  in a heartbeat, ripping some 500,000 other souls from our population- or more.

I mentioned Biden’s proposed epidemic forecasting system yesterday.  Such a system would only employ anonymized data.  That data will still let us discern trends- without divulging personal information about all our citizenry.  One of the likely data points to be monitored will be unexplained pneumonia clusters from around the world.  (Y’all should recognize that this is exactly how we knew about the early COVID-19 clusters in Washington State back in early 2020.  The Seattle Flu Study data made it evident.)

To be effective, we need to adopt what is called the 7-1-7 system.  That means the following obtains:  Within seven days of an outbreak or the emergence of a new disease strain, we will investigate the circumstances that very day- and report it to the world within the next 7 days.  That sort of an emergency response means we have far  better chances to control an epidemic- long  before it becomes a pandemic.

Of course, we need to impress upon China – and every other such nation- to terminate the existence of wet markets.  Those are the places were wild animals are purveyed to customers as viable food.  Those places have been found to be the primary exposure points for pandemics of this century.  And, will continue to be so- unless we terminate the existence of these ‘wet’ markets.

Then, of course, the system is not just for virus disease tracking.  Our system will need to identify the genetic code for the viruses that are infecting humans.  In so doing, we can determine if this strain is one that would be resistant to our existing defenses.  (Nowadays, this is a dirt-cheap enterprise.  With our gene sequencing toys, we can sequence the whole genus of a virus for about $ 50.)

And, here’s an idea.  Ok. Here’s a risky idea.  Instead of having our scientists create vaccines for a single virus- let’s seek out systems that can eradicate whole families of viruses.  Forget about using the spike (of the SARS-CoV-2 virus), let’s create a vaccine that recognizes the stem of the spikes.  That would let us immunize against a whole family of viruses- not just one.  Of course, that may mean our efforts simply fail- so it’s a high risk, high gain concept.

But, these steps are still not enough.  No-  we have to address one of our biggest failures.  Because it keeps recurring.  The US has no clue as to the vagaries in our supply chains.  For basic drugs, for medical  equipment, for testing supplies.

As I wrote a few years ago, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Baxter’s production facility for IV bags of saline was shut down.  Which put the  entire US health care system at terrible peril.  That was not much different than what happened this past year, when plastic pipette tips were put on allocation because of shortages.  And, that meant we couldn’t effect COVID-19 testing.  Or, we found we lacked sufficient supplies of PPE (personal protection equipment) for our needs.

Really?  In 21^st century America, we can’t track our basic needs?  We must- or any old malady can become a pandemic.

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