by Celeste B. June 01, 2018
1 1/2 hour segment
The word over the net this week was that a moderately contagious but lethal novel pathogen precipitated a catastrophic end to 150 million people worldwide with 15 million in the US alone. Clade X was day-long pandemic exercise hosted by John Hopkins Center for Health Security in Washington, D.C., on May 15th. If you read my article Epic Battle for Alien Alignment then you know that this is more about creating a new classification system for all biological life, opening up of the organizational chart for various types of entities from demonic, to aliens, to cyborg ‘humans,’ than a pandemic exercise. Although the rhetoric is hot right now to secure funding for future pandemics or unknown origins.
In the real-world keep your eye on the Nipah Virus which is breaking out in India right now. There are concerns that it might spread.
Meanwhile, back at the exercise, the scenario opens with the present-day outbreak of a new, serious respiratory disease in Germany and Venezuela. Soon after, Clade X is identified as a novel strain of human para-influenza virus with genetic elements of Nipah virus. In the weeks that follow a fringe group bent on reducing the human population claims responsibility for the creation and intentional release of the disease. Authorities confirm those claims and verify that the novel strain was indeed engineered by the group’s scientists. There is no vaccine, and pressure grows as pockets of cases appear in the United States. Clade X quickly causes widespread, worldwide anxiety as case counts and deaths mount.
You can view the Clade X slides which are the playbook for the exercise, now that the exercise has been completed. I am also inserting some of the ‘news’ clips of Clade X ‘coverage’ that makes exercises very realistic.
Clade X simulated a series of National Security Council–convened meetings of ten U.S. government leaders, played by individuals prominent in the fields of national security or epidemic response. Their dialogue as the scenario unfolded addressed significant uncertainties in current prevention and response capabilities, supposedly hamstrung by policy challenges at the federal level.
At the conclusion of the exercise, the Center presented six strategic policy goals needing commitment from the United States to prevent or reduce the worst possible outcomes in future pandemics.
Those recommendations are:
- Develop capability to produce new vaccines and drugs for novel pathogens within months not years.
- Pioneer a strong and sustainable global health security system.
- Build a robust, highly capable national public health system that can manage the challenges of pandemic response.
- Develop a national plan to effectively harness all US healthcare assets in a catastrophic pandemic.
- Implement an international strategy for addressing research that increases pandemic risks.
- Ensure the national security community is well prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease emergencies.
A full description of each policy recommendation is available on the Clade X website, along with video recordings of the four exercise segments.
Johns Hopkins says that in the weeks ahead, the Center’s Clade X project team will synthesize the most important points from unscripted discussions among players during the exercise and disseminate those findings widely among members of the U.S. and international bio-security policy communities.