News - US intelligence warns of potentially devastating new pandemic

US intelligence agencies have warned that countries around the world are vulnerable to a devastating new pandemic due to the failure of global health services and the failure to track diseases effectively. A new US intelligence report also suggests that we may find ourselves locked in our homes again in the not-too-distant future. This is stated in the 2024 annual threat assessment report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The document examines global threats—including transnational issues—to US national security, with a special emphasis on those that are likely over the next year. The report clearly states that countries remain vulnerable to the emergence of a new or re-emerging pathogen that could trigger another devastating pandemic. Recent outbreaks of bird flu, monkeypox, Ebola, and dengue fever have strained an already strained global response system, and in some cases experts worry a new pandemic is on the way. Scientists are now focusing part of their defense research on pandemic preparedness against a hypothetical "Disease X."