Jonathan D. Quick > Quotes

“It’s a dystopian nightmare, and it could happen tomorrow. An uncontrollable pandemic overwhelms public-health systems and wipes out millions of people in less than a year. Business and industry grind to a halt. Up to $3 trillion, a tenth of the country’s global gross domestic product, evaporates as fear of infection stifles travel, tourism, trade, financial institutions, employment, and entire supply chains. Children stop attending school. Rumors abound; neighbors scapegoat neighbors. Millions of unemployed poor, always hit the hardest, resort to theft and violence in an effort to stay alive. People starve, even in the U.S. Those who do survive are left with their lives turned upside down.”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: how to stop viruses and save humanity now

“He calls on world leaders to quit their dithering, and to respond to the threat of epidemic as if it were a tough adversary that can be beaten, rather than an adversary that inevitably leads to massive sickness and death.”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: how to stop viruses and save humanity now

“In the summer of 1918 in the U.S., the Spanish influenza first touched someone in Philadelphia. Americans were hoping for an end to the war and the return of their surviving fathers and sons. Many of the nearly 2 million citizens of Philadelphia flocked to theaters to see vaudeville, plays, and big events and concerts, exchanging occasional coughs. Nobody had paid attention to the fact that 8 million Spaniards were sick and dying from a strange new disease named the “Spanish influenza” or that people in Boston had come down with the same thing. The alarm bells were silent.”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: how to stop viruses and save humanity now

“Why was there still no Ebola vaccine after more than 20 outbreaks of the disease since it was discovered in 1976?”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: how to stop viruses and save humanity now

“I will establish the seven fundamental sets of actions needed for preventing epidemics: (1) ensuring bold leadership at all levels; (2) building resilient health systems; (3) fortifying three lines of defense against disease (prevention, detection, and response); (4) ensuring timely and accurate communication; (5) investing in smart, new innovation; (6) spending wisely to prevent disease before an epidemic strikes; and (7) mobilizing citizen activism. I’m convinced that a combination of these actions could be achieved within a decade. Working together, The Power of Seven would put us well on the path to an epidemic-free world.”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: how to stop viruses and save humanity now

“Louis Pasteur once noted, “The microbes always have the last word.”
― Jonathan D. Quick, The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It