Biological threats are a critical, yet often overlooked risk to government agencies and private enterprises—to our health, economy, and environment. Organizations have begun to expand their threat environments, for example, implementing cybersecurity measures to protect against digital threats. However, most have been slow to combat biological threats with biosecurity measures. At PHC Global, we know biosecurity is vital for protecting humankind and capital, and securing our future.

What is Biosecurity?

Biosecurity involves the steps and practices taken to predict, respond to, and reduce the risk of biological threats. These threats can come from a variety of sources—natural events like disease outbreaks, accidents, or intentional acts that could harm people, animals, or the environment. The main goal of biosecurity is to safeguard the well-being of all living things and the ecosystems they inhabit.

At PHC Global, we equip organizations and businesses with the intelligence and technology needed to assess and mitigate biological risks. By proactively identifying vulnerabilities and implementing robust biosecurity measures, organizations can enhance their resilience, protect their assets, and ensure operational continuity in the face of potential biological threats.

Why Biosecurity Matters

Biological threats can have a profound impact, especially when organizations are unprepared. Biosecurity is how we fight back.

Effective biosecurity protocols can prevent, detect, and contain disease spread if an outbreak occurs, minimizing disruptions and ensuring organizational continuity. We leverage forecasting models like Predictive Absenteeism to empower organizations to make informed decisions and maintain operational continuity. Our Critical Threats feature provides enhanced situational awareness of ongoing outbreaks, allowing organizations to track and manage emerging events.

However, biosecurity is not just about responding to crises as they occur; it’s also about proactive mitigation. This is especially important in today’s dynamic world, where a single biological threat can quickly affect the entire global population.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a clear example of how quickly disease can spread, impacting billions of lives and disrupting economies worldwide. The National Security Council’s Global Health Security and Biodefense was disbanded in 2018. The United States lacked stockpiles of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and critical medical supplies. Integration between the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and local officials was fragmented, at best.

We weren’t ready, and the results were disastrous.

Even smaller-scale outbreaks (e.g., bird flu or swine flu) can lead to significant food shortages and financial loss. Effective biosecurity measures prevent or mitigate biological threats before they cause seismic socioeconomic disruption.

The Role of Technology in Biosecurity

Organizations need to know the biological risk, what threat it might pose to personnel and business operations, how fast and how far it will spread, and what actionable, proactive steps will help mitigate negative outcomes.

Taken together, we call that idea trusted, anticipatory, tactical, and strategic biosecurity intelligence.

Esri’s GIS technology, paired with PHC Global, gives organizations a common operating picture for biological threats, enhancing the ability to:

1. Visualize and analyze the spread of a pathogen
2. Predict and react with confidence.

Biosecurity is critical to keeping our world safe. Responsible leaders would not leave their IT systems unsecured and vulnerable to intrusions by bad actors. An urgent, proactive, defense posture against biothreats can save lives. It can be the difference between halting operations and organizational continuity. It can be the difference between success and failure.

And we’re here to help.

We encourage you to learn more, stay informed, and take action to help secure our shared future.

The Spread and Detection of H5N1 in Dairy Herds

Since the detection of H5N1 in dairy herds In March and April of 2024, H5N1 has been identified in 720 dairy herds in 15 states. A comprehensive investigation into the spread of H5N1 among Michigan farms identified significant biosecurity concerns related to shared equipment and personnel and highlighted challenges in controlling the spread of H5N1 between farms.

Despite this, the United States has not moved to limit these practices. In contrast, Australia, which has other strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) but not H5N1, implements comprehensive movement restrictions that apply to animals and equipment, a practice that has helped limit the geographic spread of HPAI.

Due to the limited preventative measures and expanded testing, PHC Global expects that H5N1 will be identified in additional states and dairy herds in the coming days and months.

Detection of H5N1 in humans

As H5N1 has expanded geographically, human cases have also increased. Initially, H5N1 cases in humans were limited to people who had known close contact with dairy cattle or poultry. More recently, cases have been reported in Missouri and California among individuals with no known animal exposure.

This strongly suggests the virus’s spread is much more extensive than surveillance data indicate. Like the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, limited surveillance testing for H5N1 has allowed the virus to establish a substantial presence in the agricultural sector.

PHC expects additional cases to be identified in people with no known animal exposure in the coming weeks.

Detection of H5N1 in raw milk

In recent years, consuming raw milk has gained popularity in some online wellness communities and has even been endorsed by prominent public figures despite well-documented evidence of its risks. While drinking raw milk has always carried significant health risks, the possibility of the live H5N1 virus being present is new.

On April 1, PHC issued an alert advising people to avoid drinking raw milk. As predicted, the live H5N1 virus was detected in raw milk and subsequently some products were recalled in November. Additionally, on December 10, health officials announced they are investigating a possible link between a suspected avian flu case and raw milk consumption in Marin County, California. PHC expects that live H5N1 will continue to be detected in raw milk and strongly advises against consuming it.

Announcement of Bulk Milk Testing

The USDA has announced that it will begin widespread bulk milk testing across the United States to help track the virus’s spread among dairy herds. Scientists can map the virus’s geographical distribution and mutation patterns by testing milk samples from multiple farms and regions.

Prior to the USDA-led testing, independent scientists were already monitoring H5N1 spread through the testing of grocery store milk. While these localized studies provided proof of concept, large-scale surveillance remains a critical government function.

While the USDA’s testing initiative may be coming late in the H5N1 outbreak, this new initiative is a welcome development.

“One Mutation Away”

A widely shared scientific paper suggested that H5N1 could be “one mutation away” from becoming highly transmissible among humans. This does not mean imminent human-to-human transmission is inevitable, but it highlights the virus’s potential adaptability as influenza viruses rapidly mutate. The “one mutation” scenario suggests a specific genetic modification could enable more efficient human-to-human transmission.

Currently, this specific mutation scenario remains a theoretical possibility. The overall risk of H5N1 infection is low for the general population. Heightened precautions, such as appropriate personal protective equipment, are warranted for people with direct or indirect contact with dairy herds or poultry.

However, this paper is a stark reminder, much like the symbolic Doomsday Clock, that we are inching closer to another flu pandemic.

Continued Vigilance Necessary

While the current situation doesn’t warrant panic, it demands careful attention. The research community is closely monitoring H5N1 viral samples and tracking potential mutations. The business community needs to be just as engaged in developing and testing preparedness strategies to get through another pandemic.

Early warning helps your business prepare and respond to threats, including pandemic influenza. Don’t let the next biological threat compromise your business continuity. Sign up for a free trial of PHC Pharos today and equip your business with the tools needed to protect your people, assets, and revenue in our ever-changing world.

Learning from Marburg and Ebola: Strategies for Business Continuity in Viral Outbreaks

Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks (e.g., Ebola, Marburg) are nearly always “spillover” events. An animal, often a bat, comes in contact with a human and transmits a deadly virus that is also highly disruptive to the surrounding community’s well-being and essential daily routines. While models can identify areas where transmission events are more likely to occur, spillover events are rare, low-probability events are notoriously hard to predict.

Recently, Rwanda has done a remarkable job of controlling the current Marburg outbreak; however, things could have gone quite differently. We are not too far removed from the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak that infected nearly 30,000 people, killed more than 10,000 people, and lasted for months before it was contained. Although the human toll of that outbreak was far more significant, Rwanda has implemented some of the same restrictive public health measures used to control the large-scale Ebola outbreak to control the current Marburg outbreak.

Public health measures are most effective when applied early in an outbreak, regardless of the cases observed. Therefore, an outbreak with relatively few cases and deaths can be quite disruptive to the surrounding areas and any local or global business operations. For these reasons, PHC Global recommends that businesses continuously review and practice their emergency operations plans and use current outbreaks to assess their preparedness for future ones. 

Even if your company hadn’t experienced any disruptions from the outbreak in Rwanda, would the same have happened if the outbreak had occurred in Kenya? What about Tanzania or Uganda? Would you or other companies have restricted employee travel? What about your supply chain; are there any vulnerable links? Would any necessary components, goods, or services have experienced delays due to local movement restrictions? How resilient is your business to these types of disruptions? It’s best to take inventory and prepare for the inevitable episodic outbreak sooner rather than later. Animals remain reservoirs for viruses, and we remain vulnerable. 

When outbreaks occur, early warning helps your business prepare and respond to the threat. Don’t let the next biological threat compromise your business continuity. Sign up for a free trial of PHC Pharos today and equip your business with the tools needed to protect your people, assets, and revenue in our ever-changing world.

Identifying threats in a timely and accurate way is essential for any enterprise’s risk management. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, we have more access to both high-quality information and low-quality information. The good news? The need for accurate, timely, and reliable detection of biosecurity risks has given rise to innovative solutions like the PHC Global Threat Tracker.

Why Is It So Hard To Get Advance Warning for Real Biosecurity Threats?

Wouldn’t it be great if biosecurity threats would announce themselves clearly? Unfortunately, as the COVID-19 pandemic reminded us, information often moves around the globe more slowly than a novel threat. When information finally arrives, it’s hard to know how reliable it really is. 

Too often, biosecurity threats can be seen first through indirect indicators or proxy signals. Unfortunately, proxy signals can be hard to act on. Often, they turn out to be:

• Subtle and hard to detect
• Intertwined with other factors
• Intentionally hidden

Proxy signals might be found in social media chatter or trending headlines in online news sources. You might also spot proxy signals if you look closely at unusual patterns in healthcare data or environmental monitoring systems. But proxy signals can be hard to spot and even harder to interpret correctly. Unveiling the truth isn’t always easy – but it is possible.

How The Right Tools Can Cut Through The Noise

The solution to this dilemma lies at the intersection of technology and public health. When you successfully harness the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, you can distinguish truth from fiction and gain actionable insights to keep your business safe. Here are a few ways in which the right tools can help you cut through the noise.

Data Integration

Today, public health data can be found everywhere. From medical journals to health agencies, from social media platforms to news outlets, bits of information are scattered across our landscape. Your task is to put the puzzle pieces together. You’ll need to sift through many high-quality information streams to gain the most relevant data points. This is the only way to get a comprehensive view of the current landscape.

Pattern Recognition

The best way to mitigate loss from a biosecurity threat or infectious outbreak is to see it coming as early as possible and prepare in advance. What kinds of patterns signal an impending crisis? You might see obvious signs, like news coverage or unexpected disease outbreaks. But there may be more subtle patterns at the onset of a crisis. Unusual spikes in internet search queries about specific symptoms, for example, might point to a novel threat. Machine learning algorithms can help you identify meaningful patterns underneath the chaos.

Contextual Analysis 

Data points mean nothing outside of the appropriate context. Identifying a disease spike is a good start, but you’ll need to consider the broader context in order to take meaningful action. This could include:

• Cross-referencing with historical data 
• Gathering and analyzing demographic information
• Understanding regional specifics
• Appreciating typical patterns of outbreak evolution and when current outbreaks deviate from recognized patterns 

Contextual analysis is the best way to avoid overlooking an unanticipated biothreat– and therefore, it’s one of the best ways to conserve your organization’s resources.

Predictive Modeling

Once a potential threat is identified, what’s your next move? You’ll need predictive modeling on your side to forecast the likely path this new threat will take. Only then can you allocate resources efficiently and take timely action.

Human Collaboration and Verification

Technology itself plays a vital role in distinguishing truth from background noise. However, you also need human expertise on your side to successfully mitigate threats. When public health, epidemiology, and infectious disease experts collaborate closely with technological tools, they’re able to provide needed validation and context.

Finding Truth with the PHC Pharos Platform

Are you looking for the best tool to protect your enterprise from the next biosecurity threat? 

Look to the Global Threat Tracker, the newest feature of the PHC Pharos platform. It enables your enterprise to understand biosecurity risks and respond early. You can track one location or all of your locations using filters for COVID-19, RSV, influenza and other risks.

The alerts and recommendations in the Global Threat Tracker are based on our experts’ knowledge of information sources and disease spread. Working with some of the best software engineers and technology specialists, our epidemiologists and infectious disease experts are the core of everything we do.

You can receive information from PHC through the stand-alone Pharos platform. Or Pharos can deliver data directly to your dashboards or systems securely via API, REST or GRPC protocols.

Watch our demo to learn more about the Global Threat Tracker.

Will you scramble to find reliable information and struggle to determine the risk to your company? Will your employees be unexpectedly exposed to high risk situations? How will you know how to protect your people, your assets, and your business?

Are you any better prepared than you were at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Or are you hoping that nothing else happens on your watch?

In this increasingly complex and interconnected world, the scope and scale of potential disruptions to business operations have expanded significantly. The experts at PHC Global are worried about your readiness, and it’s keeping them up at night. 

Here is what they want you to know:

#1 – Disasters don’t happen as single events

Examples of overlapping disasters are all around us. In California, wildfires burn vegetation on hillsides. Heavy rain turns the soil into rivers of mud. Mudslides bury homes, businesses, hospitals, roads and bridges – putting people at risk.

From Florida to Maine, heavy rain floods cities and towns, stressing infrastructure like water treatment facilities and public transportation. The stagnant water recedes slowly, providing breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes.

And as the water recedes, it carries contaminated material with it. In North Carolina, hurricanes and heavy rain can flood the waste lagoons on the state’s hog farms, carrying the waste from 10 million hogs into rivers, streets and backyards. When that happens, the potential for widespread outbreaks of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections increases dramatically.

As  the effects of climate change are intensifying, the number of concurrent disasters is projected to increase. Responding to several disasters at once strains resources and response mechanisms, disrupts supply chains and complicates recovery efforts. We have two choices: start planning for the next disaster now or wait and see – putting everyone at risk.

#2 – Countries are not spending enough to strengthen, streamline and modernize our public health infrastructure and related operations.

The pandemic exposed weaknesses in the public health infrastructure, and governments have not taken adequate action to correct the problems. The world still lacks coordinated surveillance and early warning for emerging threats. Some organizations have not upgraded their antiquated health data infrastructure, and some are still transmitting data using fax machines.

In the United States, public health agencies struggle to fill open positions. 

Threatened government shutdowns are likely to hasten the exodus of professionals from the public sector workforce, and make recruiting replacements even more difficult. Compounding the problem, estimates suggest public health agencies need an 80% increase in staffing levels to be effective, but they lack the budgets to hire additional staff. 

Once a disaster begins, it’s almost impossible to rapidly expand the skilled public health workforce. Public health professionals need to possess a nuanced understanding of epidemiology, health systems, disease processes and community dynamics to be effective. That type of expertise cannot be developed overnight. Public health agencies cannot respond effectively if they are under-funded, under-staffed and overlooked.

#3 – A hesitant, skeptical public could cripple government-led prevention and mitigation efforts.

We’ve watched as the public has become increasingly hostile both to mitigation measures and prevention more broadly. Because of that hostility, public health recommendations that aim to balance science with what the population is willing to accept may be watered down to appease an angry public. During a pandemic or even a major disease outbreak, lives are at risk. Ignoring misinformation can be deadly.

For that reason, businesses need comprehensive situational awareness of a variety of threats. They need to know when threats are increasing at any of their locations and what epidemiologists recommend to manage the risk. The impact of these threats is not the same for every group. Businesses need monitoring, analysis, and recommendations that they can act on. Governments do not have the flexibility and nimbleness to fill this need, and are highly subject to political influences that skew recommendations, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we are certain that companies that plan now will be better able to protect their employees, business continuity and operations.

Visit our product page to learn more our new Global Threat Tracker.

The Biosecurity Landscape: Constant Change Is The Norm

Your job would be easier if the threats posed by biosecurity remained consistent from one day to the next. Unfortunately, they don’t. Here are the most important elements that can change threat levels.

Pandemics and Emerging Diseases

Infectious diseases can profoundly impact your business’s health and survival. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored this fact for business leaders worldwide. During the pandemic, we watched as supply chains, workforce availability and operational continuity fell apart before our eyes. You can’t control when the next pandemic will strike. But you can engage in strategic preparedness and response planning so it won’t take you by surprise.

Bioterrorism

Technology is evolving at breakneck speed. Of course, technological advancements can make our jobs easier and the future brighter. But they also mean that the threat of bioterrorism has never been more sobering. You’re at the forefront of ensuring your organization is fortified against intentional biosecurity threats.

Environmental Factors

Our climate is changing rapidly, and it will continue to do so. Environmental degradation, driven by human activity, poses a significant threat to your business continuity in years to come. This threat is indirect, yet profound. Our changing climate is creating conditions that make the emergence and spread of diseases more likely on a global scale. A comprehensive risk management plan will consider the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on your enterprise.

Human Factors

Population density is increasing as global population grows. Wars and migrations make more people vulnerable to exposures. Global interconnectedness through air travel, trade, and other means creates opportunities for biosecurity threat spread. All of these issues are constantly evolving. They demand your enterprise have the readiness and adaptability to handle such events.

What Do These Threats Mean For Me?

As a business leader, you should take these threats personally. What will they demand from you?

Strategic Leadership

You can’t formulate a comprehensive crisis management strategy without recognizing and addressing biosecurity threats. Today’s business world is more uncertain than ever – strategic leadership is what it takes to maintain a competitive edge.

Operational Resilience

Your clients, employees and investors are watching to see how your enterprise navigates the next crisis. Implementing effective biosecurity risk management solutions is the best way to maintain operational resilience. Your company’s financial stability and operational continuity are at stake.

Reputation Management

It’s impossible to put a dollar amount on your business’s reputation. COVID-19 reminded us that mishandling biosecurity threats can have a long-lasting impact on your reputation. When you prioritize biosecurity risk management, you position your enterprise to protect its image in the long term.

Employee Safety and Well Being

Today’s employees often refuse to work in environments that jeopardize their health. If you want to attract and maintain top talent, you’ll need health and safety protocols that can adequately safeguard your workforce.

Compliance and Regulation

Regulations relating to biosecurity don’t stay the same from one year to the next. If you fail to stay in touch with the changing face of biosecurity threat management, you could fall out of compliance and face legal and financial consequences.

How Can I Stay Up To Date?

Maintaining flexibility and fluidity is key to navigating the rapidly evolving biosecurity landscape. How can you jumpstart your organization?

Engage in Comprehensive Risk Assessment

You’ll need to perform a comprehensive risk assessment that focuses specifically on biosecurity. This will identify potential vulnerabilities within your organization and its supply chain.

Develop a Strategic Plan Using Cutting-Edge Technology

Begin with your existing security protocols, and develop a strategic plan for biosecuritymanagement. Your plan should include both reactive and proactive measures, and you should employ the best tools available in your decision making.

Collaborate With A Wide Array Of Experts

When you engage with experts, public health authorities and industry peers, you get to stand on their shoulders. Get your organization involved in sharing insights and best practices about emerging threats.

Provide Practical Training and Education

A knowledgeable workforce is a prepared workforce. Invest in training programs for your entire team, and your organization will be better prepared to meet biosecurity threats effectively.

Adopt The Latest Technological Solutions

Yesterday’s biosecurity management solutions can’t solve today’s problems. You need a platform that provides actionable, data-driven insights in order to plan a swift and coordinated response.

Staying Ahead of the Game With PHC’s Global Threat Tracker

Are you looking for the best tool to protect your enterprise from the next biosecurity? 

Look to our Global Threat Tracker, the newest feature of the PHC Pharos platform. It enables your enterprise to understand biosecurity risks and respond early. You can track one location or all of your locations using filters for COVID-19, RSV, influenza and other risks.

The alerts and recommendations in the Global Threat Tracker are based on our experts’ knowledge of information sources and disease spread. Working with some of the best software engineers and technology specialists, our epidemiologists and infectious disease experts are the core of everything we do.

You can receive information from PHC Global through the stand-alone Pharos platform. Or Pharos can deliver data directly to your dashboards or systems securely via API, REST or GRPC protocols.

Watch our demo to learn more about the Global Threat Tracker.

It’s easy for trending terms to become buzzwords that lack clear meanings – and the term “biosecurity” is no exception. Understanding exactly what the term means is the first step in creating an effective biosecurity management strategy. It’s also important to consider how biosecurity might impact your enterprise, whether now or in the future.

What is a biosecurity threat?

Biosecurity threats fall into several broad categories, but they are all either infections themselves or events that drive up risk of infectious diseases. They can negatively impact your employees, your business continuity and your bottom line. We think about biosecurity threats in four large categories:

• Infectious diseases such as winter respiratory viruses, Ebola viruses and stomach flu
• Environmental events such as heat waves, air quality problems and flooding
• Infrastructure events such as electrical grid outages and hospital evacuations
• Geopolitical events such as refugee movement and civil unrest

Each of these biosecurity threat categories can create unhealthy environments that allow infectious diseases to grow and pose significant risk to humans.

How biosecurity risks threatens workforce health

It’s clear to see how a local epidemic or global pandemic could impact the health of your employees. And of course, your team members won’t be able to work effectively while battling a serious illness. But some of the ways biosecurity threatens the health of your workforce are less obvious.

First, consider how extreme climate events can impact workforce health through associated biosecurity threats. When employees have damage to or lose their homes to flooding, for instance, they can face a cascade of health-related obstacles. They may immediately be exposed to intestinal viruses while fleeing in dirty water (ie norovirus). In some countries, even cholera flares during floods. Leptospirosis that causes fevers, jaundice, liver problems, and muscle pains comes from exposure to impure fresh water.  Malaria and dengue infections carry increased risk during and after floods, particularly for those not in permanent housing. Fungi and molds grow in flooded buildings, so serious pneumonia and allergies can arise from those.

In addition, epidemic and pandemic diseases can have far-reaching, indirect health impacts even when your employees aren’t infected. Widespread infectious diseases can cause supply chain issues that obstruct your employees’ access to fresh food and prescription medication.

How biosecurity risks threatens healthcare infrastructure

When hospitals and clinics are overcrowded due to events with significant biosecurity, your employees may be unable to seek help for routine health problems. They may even experience delays in treatment for major problems such as stroke or heart attack. What does this mean for your business? Longer hospital stays and waiting times at the doctor’s office can spike your absenteeism rates.

Mental health services, already stretched in most areas, can become fully overwhelmed from biosecurity events, like we have seen during the COVID-19 years. This happens just at the time when their expertise is needed to help heal from the collective trauma natural disasters, epidemics, or pandemics create.

Furthermore, when employees can’t get timely medical treatment for their health problems, they’re more likely to come to work sick. If they bring a contagious disease to work with them, your entire team is at risk. And when employees try to “push through” the workday with untreated medical conditions, their productivity will suffer.

How biosecurity threatens business continuity

Biosecurity can dramatically disrupt business continuity, in both surprising and expected ways. Of course, workforce absenteeism due to biological threats can limit your organization’s ability to get things done. But breakdowns in the supply chain caused by biosecurity threats can also pose a significant threat to business continuity. Just as consumers encountered empty grocery store shelves at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, business leaders were faced with supply shortages that hampered their local and global operations.

In addition, biosecurity threats can limit your physical access to workplaces and worksites. From stay-at-home orders to public transportation shutdowns, a widespread infectious disease or other biological threat could bring your normal operations to a halt in countless ways.

How the PHC Global Threat Tracker helps you manage biosecurity risks

You can’t eliminate the threat of biosecurity threats to your business. However, the PHC Global Threat Tracker can help you with early warning and time to make adjustments to your business. You can track a single location – or all of them. Through the Pharos system, you will know when threat levels change and what strategies our experts recommend.

Request a demo to learn more about PHC Global and the PHC Pharos Platform.

Without a crystal ball, it’s impossible to know for sure whether your next opponent will be a pandemic or epidemic. But there are plenty of signals your enterprise should be tracking – signals that can provide you with important foresight about the next crisis. 

Why take the time to track approaching pandemics or epidemics? COVID-19 reminded us that a public health crisis can create severe setbacks or lead to bankruptcy for any enterprise, large or small. Understanding the enemy and tracking its movements is the best way to avoid being blindsided.

Epidemics And Pandemics: What’s The Difference?

The words “epidemic” and “pandemic” are often used interchangeably. But they’re different for a reason.

What is a pandemic?

A pandemic is a disease outbreak that occurs over a wide geographic area, often worldwide.. When one strikes, it affects an exceptionally high proportion of the global population. Pandemics transcend borders, political lines and continents. Since our globe is so interconnected, pandemics can spread very quickly. A look back at the COVID-19 timeline confirms this:

• The very first reports of a novel virus came at the very end of December 2019.
• By January 21, 2020, the WHO conducted its first mission to Wuhan, China to learn more about the cluster of cases.
• By January 24, three novel cases were reported in France.
• By March 11, the WHO had classified COVID-19 as a pandemic.

Pandemics bring disaster in their wake. They’re capable of causing significant amounts of severe disease, mortality and societal disruption.

What is an epidemic?

The term “epidemic” refers to the rapid spread of a disease within a specific community, region or population. Compared to pandemics, epidemics have a more localized scope. But this doesn’t mean they can’t wreak havoc. SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is an example of a destructive epidemic in recent memory. In 2003, SARS claimed the lives of over 800 people. In areas of the globe that never saw a SARS outbreak, panic and uncertainty still reigned.

What Are The Factors That Drive Pandemics and Epidemics?

Multiple contributing issues influence the likelihood and severity of the next pandemic or epidemic. Consider these factors that drive both:

Globalization and Travel

In many ways, globalization has turned the entire planet into a village. In only 45 hours, a commercial plane can travel the entire circumference of the globe. As international travel and trade increases, so does the risk of both pandemics and epidemics. Communication and transportation are advancing exponentially, furthering the world’s economic and social globalization. While globalization can give your enterprise a worldwide reach, it also makes public health disease containment much more challenging.

Urbanization

As densely populated areas become the norm worldwide, the risk of epidemics and pandemics is exacerbated. Over half the world’s population now lives in towns and cities – and by 2030, the number of urban dwellers is expected to reach 5 billion.

Zoonotic Diseases

When a novel infectious disease arises in humans, it often originated in animals first. Such a disease is called a zoonosis. Unfortunately, due to human activities like deforestation and building at the urban/wild interface, these zoonotic diseases are only expected to become more common. As we continue to encroach on animals’ natural habitats, and as climate change disrupts them, more germs jump from animals to man.

Antibiotic Resistance

Before the discovery of antibiotics, human life expectancy was around 47 years. Even in the most industrialized communities, infectious diseases routinely caused death before middle age. Antibiotic develoopment dramatically extended life expectancy in the 20th century. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics, however,  have led to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These “superbugs” are harder to treat, and mortality rises from them. Antibiotic resistance doesn’t cause epidemics or pandemics, but it makes ones caused by superbugs harder to control, more severe, and deadlier. 

Climate Change

As the climate changes rapidly, disease vectors like mosquitoes and ticks are becoming more prevalent. These tiny insects are responsible for spreading dangerous illnesses including:

• Malaria
• Dengue fever
• Lyme disease

And as the planet warms, these diseases will increasingly become a global problem, no longer confined to tropical or subtropical regions. 

Vaccine Hesitancy

Vaccines have proven to be one of the most effective tools against infectious diseases in human history. Despite saving countless lives, vaccines are facing a PR problem due to misinformation. Around the world, vaccine hesitancy poses a significant threat to public health – and since the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been steadily rising. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in childhood vaccines dropped by up to 44 percentage points in multiple countries. Studies have shown higher COVID mortality in regions with lower vaccine uptake. Misinformation and distrust in vaccines hinder global vaccination efforts, causing preventable diseases to spiral into epidemics or pandemics. 

Protecting Your Enterprise From Biosecurity Threats

The current situation is sobering, but not hopeless. With early detection and surveillance, investment in global healthcare infrastructure, and collaboration among key players worldwide, pandemics and epidemics can be confronted head on.

For enterprise, many of the needed preparatory steps are the same, whether a pandemic or an epidemic arises first. Investment now in epidemic/pandemic planning will pay large dividends in the years ahead and provide competitive advantage.

Need actionable insights to help you protect your assets and team members? 

The Global Threat Tracker is the newest part of the PHC Pharos platform. It enables your enterprise to understand biosecurity risks and respond early. You can track one location or all of your locations using filters for COVID-19, RSV, influenza and other risks.

Watch our demo to learn more about the Global Threat Tracker.

Biosecurity and cybersecurity share some common features – and your risk management framework needs them both. Here’s why.

Both threats impact employees at work and at home

You already know that cyber threats can strike anywhere. All it takes is one employee clicking on a malicious link – from the office or their home – and you’ve got a serious breach on your hands. To prevent these incidents before they happen, you take proactive measures like employee training, firewalls, and regular vulnerability assessment.

Like data security breaches, biosecurity threats can also threaten your employees at home or on the job. Your biosecurity management strategy should address both fronts. It’s up to you to control the spread of disease within your workplace, but you also need a comprehensive plan for handling illnesses that spread beyond the walls of your organization and their impact on your employees.. COVID-19 taught us the importance of being prepared. It’s much easier to prevent your employees from accepting ransomware than to clean up after an incident has occurred. The same is true of biosecurity threats – you can’t wait until the next pandemic is in full swing before starting a prevention campaign.

Both threats continue to evolve and adapt

Today’s cybersecurity threats are nothing like those we faced five or ten years ago. As users have become less vulnerable to obvious threats, like clumsy phishing attempts in their inboxes, criminals have invented more sophisticated threats to take their place. In particular, the work from home trend has introduced new data security vulnerabilities that demand innovative solutions. As AI and machine learning technologies continue to evolve, they pose increasingly complex challenges for data security specialists.

Biosecurity threats are also known for adapting and overcoming the defensive barriers we place. The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us how easily a virus can mutate and become more or less deadly  – or transmissible – over time. COVID-19 also represented an entirely novel biosecurity threat. Since animal spillover events are inevitable, preparing for the next new epidemic or pandemic involves a question of when, not if. You need expert guidance on your side when the next crisis erupts.

Both threats are increasing in frequency and severity

Cybersecurity risks and biosecurity risks have something else in common – they’re both on the rise. In 2022, global cyberattacks increased by 38% over the previous year. On average, cyberattacks cost small businesses around $200k, and that number increases exponentially when larger businesses are victimized.

The costs of the COVID-19 pandemic are difficult to tally. However, researchers estimate that by the end of this year, this disease will have cost the U.S. economy $14T. As global health crises continue to intensify in sync with worsening climate conditions, it’s more important than ever to be prepared for the next pandemic.

Round out your risk management framework with the new Global Threat Tracker

The news cycle is full of cautionary tales about companies that fail in some aspect of cybersecurity or data security. The year isn’t over, but high-profile data breaches of 2023 already include big names such as Yum Brands, T-Mobile and Chick-fil-A. These companies have large-scale, robust risk management frameworks, yet their vulnerabilities were still exploited.

As you continue to hone your overall risk management framework, don’t allow any gaps to go unfilled. Just like cybersecurity tracking, a biosecurity tracking failure could quickly result in the type of notoriety you don’t want for your business, along with marked productivity damage..

The Global Threat Tracker is the newest part of the PHC Pharos platform. It enables your enterprise to understand biosecurity risks and respond early. You can track one location or all of your locations using filters for COVID-19, RSV, influenza and other risks.

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Watch our demo to learn more about the Global Threat Tracker.