Votto
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Simulation exercises such as "Catastrophic Contagion" are a normal part of pandemic preparedness; they don’t predict future pandemics
Tabletop exercises are a normal tool of pandemic preparedness training to improve international coordination and response. They are akin to fire drills, for example. Similar simulations in the past occurred without a corresponding pandemic breaking out in the real world.
On 23 October 2022, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, held a pandemic preparedness training called “Catastrophic Contagion”. This exercise gathered public health officials and past or present health ministers from several countries and assessed how they would respond to a hypothetical rapidly propagating virus.
In their fictional scenario, a pandemic involving a new enterovirus would break out in South America in 2025 and spread rapidly, mostly targeting children and young adults. Enteroviruses are the most prevalent viruses in the world. They spread easily and especially affect children. While they usually cause mild symptoms, they can also infect the nervous system causing more severe diseases, such as polio. This explains their relevance as possible pandemic agents.
The fictional scenario of “Catastrophic Contagion” was enough for some to claim that Bill Gates and the WHO were already planning the next pandemic, providing us with a place and date for it. For instance, Natali and Clayton Morris, hosts of the YouTube channel “Redacted”, claimed that “Bill Gates and [the] WHO have announced when we will see the next pandemic” and advocated viewers to “plan [their] trips around this next pandemic” .
Articles are circulating around the internet like this one trying to debunk any notions that Bill Gates is somehow behind these outbreaks.
However, IF another outbreak occurs in 2025 and IF those most effected are children, these types of conspiracy theories will only generate more and more support.
I'm guessing that if Trump gets back into office, at some point another outbreak will occur, but that's just me.