HUMANITY UNDER THREAT
Deadly disease spread by mosquitoes could kill MILLIONS in plague-like global pandemic, world’s richest man Bill Gates warns
THE world's richest man has claimed a mosquito-borne disease could kill millions in a plague like global pandemic.
In a shocking new documentary Bill Gates said the potentially fatal bug could claim 10 million lives without warning.
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He claims that the outbreak could mimic the spread of Ebola in 2014 or even the SARS outbreak of 2003.
The philanthropist spoke on a documentary titled Mosquito set to be screened this week on the Discovery Channel.
He said: "At the top of the list of things I worry about, the risk of a very serious pandemic is quite substantial.
"If you say what could kill 10 million people – yes a war could, but a pandemic is probably even more likely to come and surprise us in that way."
The documentary looks into the Zika virus epidemic which spread to more than 70 countries, the reports.
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Researchers also looked into the threat of dengue fever which is known to be rapidly spreading through the world.
Malaria, which claims the lives of two people every minute int Africa, is also touched upon in the documentary.
In April Gates, who it is rumoured could become the world's first trillionaire, warned that bio terrorism is a greater risk to the world than nuclear war.
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He said terrorists could produce a super virulent version of a killer disease such as smallpox or anthrax before unleashing it upon the world.
Once a killer virus is allowed to run rampant, it could cause millions of deaths.
“All these advances in biology have made it far easier for a terrorist to recreate smallpox, which is a highly fatal pathogen, where there is essentially no immunity remaining at this point.
“When you are thinking about things that could cause in excess of 10 million deaths, even something tragic like a nuclear weapons incident wouldn’t get to that level.
“So the greatest risk is from a natural epidemic or an intentionally caused infection bioterrorism events.”
He said a “fast-moving airborne” disease could kill 30 million people in less than a year.
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