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Health security relies on tackling evolving virus mutations. [File Courtesy]
Picture this: a disease outbreak is reported in a city in East Asia. Within a month, the world is in panic as infections spread rapidly and deaths mount. Three months later, the disease reached Kenya. A raft of measures follows: empty classrooms, sluggish markets, closed places of worship, paralysed tourism, shortages of medical supplies, and the loss of both lives and livelihoods.
This was the story of COVID-19. It is also a familiar pattern whenever infectious diseases are not prevented, detected and controlled early. It could be cholera, anthrax, Ebola virus disease or kala-azar. A health shock, left unchecked, quickly mutates into an economic, social and even national security crisis.
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