The Spanish Flu a Century Later

100 years ago, the Spanish Influenza tore unforeseen through armies, public health defenses and geographic barriers, ultimately leaving over 50 million dead. Today we live in a state of superior preparedness, but the frightening truth is that modernization and globalization have also driven up health security risks. A disease can travel faster in a well-connected world of cheap transport, advances in synthetic biology make opportunities to create both cures and biological weapons, and conflicts and disorder continue to displace people and allow for the spread of disease. It is essential that we remain vigilant and prepared at home and abroad to ensure that health infrastructure investment keeps pace with new connectivity infrastructure, that policymakers remain aware and adaptable, and that high-level political will does not wane.