[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 182 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6600-S6601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REDUCING PANDEMIC RISK

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we do not have to be reminded of the more 
than

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50 million lives lost in the 1918 influenza pandemic or the many 
thousands lost in the SARS, Ebola, MERS, and other recent infectious 
disease outbreaks to recognize that far more must be done to reduce the 
risk of catastrophic pandemics. Rather than waiting until disease 
outbreaks occur, then scrambling at great expense for 2 or 3 years or 
however long it takes to develop a vaccine while countless people die, 
we need to act proactively. It is worth noting that tens of millions of 
people have died, and we still lack a vaccine against HIV.
  Viral threats will continue to emerge at a rapidly accelerating pace 
in response to expanding global populations in the least developed 
countries, international travel, and human encroachment into wildlife 
habitat. And we know that the vast majority of emerging viruses, like 
HIV, are zoonotic--infectious diseases that can spread between animals 
and humans.
  In an effort to strengthen global capacity for detection and 
discovery of zoonotic viruses, the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, USAID, initiated the PREDICT project in 2009. Its goal was 
to identify new emerging viruses with pandemic potential and improve 
predictive modeling to better focus surveillance, data collection, and 
analytics to reduce the risk of animal viruses spilling over and 
spreading in human populations. Through the collection and analysis of 
wildlife samples in areas of the world most at risk for zoonotic 
disease, PREDICT was able to discover disease pathogens at their 
source, rather than waiting for human infection.
  Over the past decade and through its work in more than 30 countries, 
PREDICT has identified hundreds of viruses and has estimated that there 
are more than 1.6 million unknown viral disease species in mammalian 
and avian populations, of which an estimated 600,000 to 850,000 have 
the potential to infect humans. PREDICT has proven the feasibility of a 
global, systematic viral discovery program and paved the way for 
continued progress toward a more proactive approach to reducing 
pandemic risk.
  As the PREDICT project comes to an end next year, USAID is exploring 
ways to build on its successful analytical and modeling work and is in 
the process of designing the next phase of programming to continue this 
critical effort. It is my hope that others in the international 
community will use the lessons learned and techniques proven from 
PREDICT to inform their own efforts.
  Currently, the international community often targets global health 
investments on infrastructure, institutions, and human resources. While 
that approach works to strengthen public health systems and to tackle 
existing diseases, reducing the risk of future pandemics will require a 
substantially different approach. As the PREDICT project has shown, 
there are ways to use data, research, and technology to proactively 
identify viral threats. Using existing health science and technology to 
continue to fill the knowledge gap for unknown viruses will save 
precious lives and dollars in the future.
  Thanks to the work of USAID, we have a strong basis of knowledge on 
which to expand this critical research. While the large pool of viral 
threats lying dormant in animals has not changed, human interaction 
with wildlife has. In this increasingly globalized and densely 
populated world, where it is easier than ever for zoonotic diseases to 
rapidly spread across regions and continents, it is essential that the 
international community focus on finding innovative ways to reduce 
pandemic risk.
  One approach is through a global viral discovery effort, in which 
countries share data on previously unknown viruses, which will 
transform the fight against pandemic threats from a reactive to a 
proactive undertaking. This is not a technological challenge; it is 
matter of political will and resources. It will require commitments 
from governments around the world to collect and share data on 
previously unknown viruses. While I recognize that is easier said than 
done, better equipping humanity to protect itself against catastrophic 
pandemics is an investment we cannot afford not to make.

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