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Without an adequate response, an epidemic can develop into a pandemic, which generally means it has spread to more than one continent.

Left to their own devices, epidemic diseases tend to follow the same basic process: A virus or bacteria infects a host, who typically becomes sick and in many cases dies. Along the way, the host infects others.

Nations don't have friends; they have interests. The best motivation for a state to act if it is remote from an epidemic is if its own security is at risk.

Governors normally have jurisdiction over public health emergencies, but a widespread biological attack would cross state boundaries.

A pandemic influenza would mean widespread infection essentially throughout every region of the world.

Infectious disease exists at this intersection between real science, medicine, public health, social policy, and human conflict. There's a tendency of people to try and make a group out of those who have the disease. It makes people who don't have the disease feel safer.

If you find diseases before they've really emerged, you can control them early on, before you get a major epidemic.

When there were cases of Ebola in the States, I respected that people wanted to address concerns and take some sort of action, but the focus turned completely to the U.S. At one point, we started to wonder, Where is the Ebola epidemic happening? The States - or West Africa?

In low-income countries, the main problems you have is infectious diseases.

Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously, precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.