The frequency of epidemics is increasing, driven by surging populations, environmental change and globalized trade and travel. The SARS, pandemic influenza, MERS, Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks illustrate that the world is ill-prepared to deal with a large-scale viral pandemic. Experts have so far identified only a tiny proportion of viral threats, and few of these viruses have had vaccines or other counter-measures developed. Over the coming century we will witness spillover from a pool of over one million "unknown" viruses into human populations. The Global Virome Project is a global initiative to identify and characterize every significant viral threat circulating in the world. Only by identifying these potential threats can the world begin to prepare for the next great outbreak. In conversation with Jonna Mazet, Dennis Carroll and Nathan Wolfe, three experts from the Global Virome Project, this program will explore the extent of the viral threat to human populations and what can be done to stop it.

The panel features:

Dennis Carroll, Director, Global Health Security and Development Unit, US Agency for International Development (USAID), Jonna Mazet, Executive Director, One Health Institute, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and Nathan Wolfe, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Metabiota.

The conversation is moderated by Larry Brilliant, Chair, Skoll Global Threats Fund.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1629