Winning the battle against emerging pathogens: A South African response

By Louise Bezuidenhout, Chandre Gould | Issue Article | July 1, 2014

Technological advances in the life sciences hold out the promise of controlling or eliminating stubborn diseases. They also increase the risk that malevolent actors will learn to produce new and highly dangerous pathogens, a prospect that deeply concerns security professionals in developed countries. In the developing world, meanwhile, where many nations struggle mightily with diseases such as AIDS and malaria, public health concerns tend to focus more on the here and now—or, when it comes to emerging threats, on how to contend with natural rather than human-made pathogens. Authors from four countries—Oyewale Tomori of Nigeria (2014), Louise Bezuidenhout and Chandre Gould of South Africa, Maria José Espona of Argentina (2014), and Iris Hunger of Germany (2014)—explore how governments, institutions, and professionals in both the developed and developing worlds can make the world safer from emerging pathogens, whether natural or human-made.

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Issue: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Volume 70 Issue 4
Keywords: Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, World Health Organization, biosafety, biosecurity, developing countries, dual use research, ethics education, pathogens, scientists
Topics: Biosecurity