Surperbugs, Resurgent and Emerging Diseases, and Pandemics: A National Security Perspective
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Authors
Pilch, Frances T.
Grosselin, Kenneth
Issue Date
2008
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
While not often considered, "superbugs" may pose a greater threat to U.S. national security than terrorists or WMDs. Superbugs are those bacteria that have developed immunity to a wide number of antibiotics, and along with emergent and resurgent diseases, and pandemics they may be a greater threats to our population and to the effective functioning of our military.
In the context of globalization, it is difficult if not impossible to contain diseases within national boundaries. International cooperation has become a critical component in addressing world health issues. It is the opinion of these authors that health issues, of necessity, need to be regarded as security issues – security, broadly defined.
Disease has only recently featured prominently in debates on security, and this has likely resulted from a convergence of two new and salient features of security debates. First, transnational threats, such as those posed by terrorist networks, have heightened awareness of the need to control WMD – and biological weapons are clearly in this category. Second, discourse on security has been diversified and has called for an expanded notion of what security means. In particular, the debate calls for including "individual security," as well as the security of territory and the sovereign state.
This article is comprised of three parts. Part One addresses a simple hypothesis: Biological threats may be of natural or deliberate origin, and it is the natural threat that in fact poses the greatest risk to both U.S. forces abroad and domestic security. However, initiatives designed to prevent and detect deliberate disease outbreaks, are critical in detecting and responding to natural outbreaks, and vice versa, if managed intelligently and cooperatively by the involved actors.
Part Two presents three case studies to illustrate some of the concerns raised in Part One: drug resistant tuberculosis, SARS, and avian influenza.
Part Three of this article presents a hypothetical case study modeling the effects of an outbreak of H5N1 on a military base abroad and surrounding communities. The question addressed by this second section is: what do mathematical models indicate concerning the consequences of different potential reaction strategies to disease outbreaks?
Description
INSS Research Paper
Citation
Publisher
Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), USAF Academy, CO