Pandemic chapter 5

In this video, respected Professor Antonia Hardy, who was one of the few people who could develop a vaccine against the new virus, is interviewed by the policeman Alex Papoulia. Professor Hardy admits that she engineered the virus in a clandestine laboratory so that she could become famous for developing a vaccine against it through her formal university research activity. It becomes clear that she did it to achieve fame and respect for developing the vaccine, but was comfortable with killing thousands of people in the process. A twist is that Hardy is released from police custody, suggesting that she has friends in high places, although she is made to retire from her job. This frustrates Alex but there’s nothing he can do about it. At least he solved the mystery of where the disease came from and can get some satisfaction from that. The health department official, Sharri Patel, points out that one benefit of the pandemic emergency was that it led to cooperation and consultation between the health department and the police, which usually does not happen. An issue highlighted in this video are the human motivations that can lead to criminal behaviour, even by respected persons. Another is that it often takes an emergency to have multi-agency cooperation. Prevention of, and preparedness for, these emergencies require ongoing cooperation and consultation at all times, not just in a crisis. After watching this chapter of Pandemic, please discuss the following questions in the comments section below

• What other factors might motivate people to engineer pathogens that could cause dangerous outbreaks?
• Which organisations would be stakeholders in the management of a bioterrorism event?
• Do you think the health care system in your country would be prepared for a bioterrorism attack?