Thank you Karen. I have been in contact with people at Health New Zealand and at ESR but unfortunately, due to the current administration’s cuts to the budget they think it is unlikely to be implemented anytime soon. Feedback from one scientist at ESR was that the sequencing cost was still too high, although perhaps he would change his mind when the costs are compared to the estimated damages.
In regard to industrial animal agriculture, this may be a problem in New Zealand that I am ignorant of, but it seems most likely the pathogen would emerge internationally rather than locally, hence my focus on border detection, although you make a good point and I’m glad that area is not being completely neglected.
Ciaran
Karma: 25
Thanks Swan. I have thought about doing that although I haven’t written a policy brief before. It seems like this model of screening airports would work best in island countries such as Australia, and I could probably adapt this report for that context. My greatest uncertainty is in the estimate for cost savings as this depends on predicting the frequency and severity of future pandemics. Do you have any feedback on this area?