White House Preparing Bio-defense Strategy As Germ Warfare Fears Rise (From Forbes)

Time was, the phrase “weapons of mass destruction” was almost synonymous with nuclear weapons.  Not in this White House, though.  The Trump Administration is so concerned about biological threats and global pandemics that the National Security Council staff is preparing a dedicated bio-defense strategy.  Pandemics have ravaged humanity from its earliest days — smallpox killed more people than all the wars of the 20th Century combined — but it may be that what stirred the White House to action was the realization that scientists can now create novel pathogens in a laboratory. That includes scientists who may be sympathetic to extreme causes.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.