A Summit on Ending Biological Threats

The report outlines a strategic framework for ending biological threats, focusing on the implementation of pathogen early warning systems, the optimization of public-private partnerships, and the integration of interagency efforts. It emphasizes that while technological tools like wastewater epidemiology and airport sampling have advanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, sustained political will and funding are required to maintain these systems between crises. The document argues for treating pandemic preparedness as a national security issue and recommends improving strategic communications and international trust to ensure rapid outbreak reporting and response.

• Experts agree that an effective pathogen early warning and response system can prevent both natural and deliberate biological threats from causing mass casualties, but the focus has shifted toward implementation challenges such as data integration, international coordination, and sustained funding.
• Pathogen early warning relies on diverse data inputs, including airport sampling, wastewater epidemiology, and K-12 school testing. However, wastewater testing is not a complete solution because detecting a pathogen there may occur too late, and creating new assays can take several weeks.
• There is a critical need to integrate animal and livestock data into early warning systems to prevent food insecurity from deliberate attacks and to detect potential zoonotic spillover into humans. Proposed improvements include expanding veterinary insurance and implementing International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for animal deaths.
• Public-private collaboration faces hurdles including long government decision-making cycles, a lack of trust, and unreasonable expectations that biodefense products must have both national security and commercial utility, unlike other defense technologies like missile systems.
• The U.S. government's American Pandemic Preparedness Plan (AP3) is viewed as a valuable foundation but is considered insufficiently ambitious, lacking a strong international engagement strategy and a comprehensive plan to limit disease spillover from animals.
• Strategic communications during the pandemic were hindered by siloed government efforts and a lack of communications experts during the policy-making process. The report suggests that NGOs should be leveraged for innovative messaging and that communications staff must be present throughout the policy process to understand how the public will interpret guidance.
• There is a perceived gap in policymakers' understanding of the scale and probability of catastrophic biological events, partly because the world has not yet experienced a truly catastrophic event attributed to deliberate or accidental cause.

APA

Parr, L., Regan, D. P., & du Pont, J. (2023). A Summit on Ending Biological Threats. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Report_Summit_on_Ending_Biological_Threats-Mar23.pdf

Chicago

Parr, Lillian, Daniel P. Regan, and Jackson du Pont. A Summit on Ending Biological Threats. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Report_Summit_on_Ending_Biological_Threats-Mar23.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parr |first1=Lillian |last2=Regan |first2=Daniel P. |last3=du Pont |first3=Jackson |title=A Summit on Ending Biological Threats |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=February 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Report_Summit_on_Ending_Biological_Threats-Mar23.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parr2023summit, author = {Parr, Lillian and Regan, Daniel P. and du Pont, Jackson}, title = {{A Summit on Ending Biological Threats}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Report_Summit_on_Ending_Biological_Threats-Mar23.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }