Pandemic: when, not if
The outbreak of the next global pandemic is a question of timing rather than probability, Munich Re has warned.
A new report from the global reinsurer says the threat of a pandemic is still very real, despite a drop in media interest. But it says the most likely outbreak – bird flu – won’t be on the scale of earlier pandemics.
Despite “insufficient and no fully reliable statistical data” on pandemic scenarios, Munich Re’s own research shows an outbreak would not reach the catastrophic level of the Spanish flu, which killed at least 25 million people in 1918.
“Due to medical and technical advances, the mortality rate in the event of a pandemic would be much lower than in the past, certainly below that of the Spanish flu,” the reinsurer said.
“On the insurance side, Munich Re is no more exposed than in the case of larger natural catastrophes.”
A new report from the global reinsurer says the threat of a pandemic is still very real, despite a drop in media interest. But it says the most likely outbreak – bird flu – won’t be on the scale of earlier pandemics.
Despite “insufficient and no fully reliable statistical data” on pandemic scenarios, Munich Re’s own research shows an outbreak would not reach the catastrophic level of the Spanish flu, which killed at least 25 million people in 1918.
“Due to medical and technical advances, the mortality rate in the event of a pandemic would be much lower than in the past, certainly below that of the Spanish flu,” the reinsurer said.
“On the insurance side, Munich Re is no more exposed than in the case of larger natural catastrophes.”