Inevitable or avoidable?

The prospect of a superbug that could wipe out much of the human race sounds like the stuff of science-fiction novels, Hollywood movies or doomsday prophets. However, such a global pandemic might not be as unlikely as it seems—some would even go so far as to say that it is a certainty, with the only uncertainties being what pathogen will cause it, when it will happen and how well the world will cope. Although vaccinations and antibiotics have eliminated some of mankind’s greatest foes and lulled society into believing that great plagues are a thing of the past, plenty of pathogens remain that are able to evade all known therapies.