Coronavirus on the March:
Bad Bugs, Public Health and Global Security
Presentation and Discussion with
Dr. James Wilson
Founder and CEO, M2 Medical Intelligence, Inc., Reno, Nevada
March 12, 2020, at The Sands Hotel & Casino
“If the coronavirus is fully contained, with falling caseloads and higher recovery rates, [Chinese leader] Xi [Jinping] looks the hero. He and his party advocates in the Chinese press can tout the Communist Party’s victory over what was thought to become a global pandemic. Xi wins. If this lasts as long as the SARS epidemic and is much more costly in terms of life and treasure, Xi loses.” (Kenneth Rapoza Forbes, 14 Feb 2020)
With nearly 65,000 cases confirmed and 1,400 deaths as of 14 February 2020, the novel coronavirus, now named COVID-19, is on the march in especially in Hubei Province in China with 600 cases outside China in 28 other countries including 15 cases in the United States. Passengers have been stranded for weeks under quarantine on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan, Americans evacuated from Wuhan in Hubei Province are being held in quarantine on military bases in the United States, stock markets get the jitters every time the case counts jump, and the 2020 summer Olympics in Japan are potentially at risk.
The steady march of news stories – some balanced, some sensational, and some blatant lies – has made this outbreak a challenge to health intelligence professionals worldwide. Adding to the confusion China, responding to “pressure” from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), reassessed their COVID-19 case estimates this week adding over 14,000 new cases in one day. Trusting an authoritarian regime, whose future depends on rapid containment of this outbreak, to be fully transparent with information about cases loads and projected economic impacts is proving to be a challenge U.S. policymakers and national security experts.
The NSF is fortunate to have one of the leading experts in health and medical intelligence to guide us through the facts, figures, and falsehoods of COVID-19 and to provide us with insight on what we can expect from this outbreak in the coming weeks, months, years. Dr. James Wilson, founded M2 Medical Intelligence, Inc. in Reno to improve health outcomes and inform global security communities about existing and emerging biothreats. Dr. Wilson has worked at the forefront of past regional and global outbreaks including the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 and the cholera outbreak in Haiti following the earthquake in 2010.
Dr. Wilson’s insight as both a medical professional and a national security expert will shed light on how the global security community is responding to COVID-19 and how this outbreak will likely shape our thinking about future pandemics and other biothreats.
Come join us for an enlightening and informative discussion that will certainly be good for your health!
Dr. Wilson is a world-leading expert in health security intelligence with 25 years of direct operational experience. He has led the creation of several of the most powerful systems in the world used for anticipation, detection, and warning of infectious disease crises and disasters. Dr. Wilson provided leading intelligence regarding the spread of H5N1 avian influenza in Asia, Europe, and Africa, warning of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and identification of the United Nations Nepalese Mirebalais base as the source of the 2010 Haiti cholera disaster. Dr. Wilson has direct experience with biological weapon deployment investigations and the detection of accidents of biotechnology. He is the founder and CEO of Medical Intelligence, Inc. in Reno, Nevada and former Research Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Community Health Sciences. Dr. Wilson practices medicine as a Board Certified Pediatrician at the Northern Nevada HOPES Clinic. He received a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and a B.Sc. in biology from Georgia Institute of Technology. Jim lives in Reno with his wife and three lovely daughters.