ABSTRACT
Infectious disease has influenced world history more deeply and profoundly than most of us would imagine; its impact is usually maximized in a pandemic – a worldwide spread of a new disease. The term pandemic is derived from the combination of Greek word pan – meaning “all” – and demos – meaning “people.” This chapter provides an overview of the pandemics–security nexus. Flu pandemics are the most common form of pandemic, typically originating from animal influenza viruses. Such a pandemic occurs when a novel virus emerges for which most of the population has little or no immunity. A novel flu strain can be created in two separate ways – through antigenic drift and antigenic shift. The threat of pandemics and lack of surge response capacity have led to efforts to “securitize” pandemics, as evidenced by the 2002 decision to broaden the Global Health Security Initiative. The securitization of pandemics is not a new phenomenon, however.
