Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Will a pandemic ever kill millions again?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Will a pandemic ever kill millions again?
The Coronavirus outbreak in China has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. It is raising fears of a global disease pandemic.
In the past viral infections have killed millions. Possibly the worst ever pandemic was the 1918-19 flu, which spread just as the First World War was coming to an end. Estimates of the death toll now range between 50 and 100 million. At the upper range that means it was more deadly than both World Wars put together. So could another pandemic emerge today and kill millions? How might it happen and how prepared are we to confront it?
The world is a very different place to 100 years ago. Scientific and public health advances do mean some parts of the world are more prepared but our ways of living could make us more susceptible to a new virus.
Speaking to a leading virologist, a disease modeller, a public health policy expert and a senior African health official, Ben Chu asks where the virus threat might come from, how fast it could spread, what containment policies work and whether the world is ready.
Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: John Murphy
(image: Scientist working with a dangerous virus in the laboratory. Credit: Getty Creative)
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.6
694694 ratings
The Coronavirus outbreak in China has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. It is raising fears of a global disease pandemic.
In the past viral infections have killed millions. Possibly the worst ever pandemic was the 1918-19 flu, which spread just as the First World War was coming to an end. Estimates of the death toll now range between 50 and 100 million. At the upper range that means it was more deadly than both World Wars put together. So could another pandemic emerge today and kill millions? How might it happen and how prepared are we to confront it?
The world is a very different place to 100 years ago. Scientific and public health advances do mean some parts of the world are more prepared but our ways of living could make us more susceptible to a new virus.
Speaking to a leading virologist, a disease modeller, a public health policy expert and a senior African health official, Ben Chu asks where the virus threat might come from, how fast it could spread, what containment policies work and whether the world is ready.
Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: John Murphy
(image: Scientist working with a dangerous virus in the laboratory. Credit: Getty Creative)
More shows like The Inquiry
View all
Global News Podcast
7,670 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
375 Listeners
Business Daily
525 Listeners
More or Less
881 Listeners
Newshour
1,041 Listeners
World Business Report
293 Listeners
In Our Time
5,544 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,807 Listeners
Witness History
956 Listeners
The History Hour
582 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
217 Listeners
The Interview
358 Listeners
Discovery
975 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
422 Listeners
The Life Scientific
240 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
842 Listeners
Science In Action
337 Listeners
Unexpected Elements
354 Listeners
The Briefing Room
75 Listeners
CrowdScience
476 Listeners
Evil Genius with Russell Kane
378 Listeners
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
231 Listeners
Elis James and John Robins
322 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,138 Listeners
Sport's Strangest Crimes
66 Listeners
Uncanny
851 Listeners
Dua Lipa: At Your Service
1,000 Listeners
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
503 Listeners
Believe in Magic
623 Listeners
The Global Story
271 Listeners
Miss Me?
269 Listeners
The Explanation
24 Listeners
The History Podcast
62 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
77 Listeners