While a new world wide flu epidemic is possible I think it is highly unlikely or if it does occur the fatality rate will be much lower. In order for the flu to turn into an international epidemic it would either need to be a new and undiscovered strain that the scientific community does not have a vaccine for as well as individuals lacking antibodies. This would require the flu to be from a new host like a fish flu since it could spread easily undetected in predators to human populations across the world. However, I believe that the next big one will more likely be the result of some sort of bio-terrorist attack involving a virus like smallpox. If one was able to obtain smallpox from one of the two facilities that actually still store it and successfully mutate it into a new strain that the vaccine does not cover it would easily spread from individual to individual carrying a lethality rate likely above 20 percent since it would be weaponized. In the lethal sense it would potentially be more devastating since it would not only kill more people it would be much hard to contain since unknowningly medical professionals could spread it across multiple patients. While the risk of bioterrorism is low I would argue that the rate of it is higher than a new flu epidemic since as we learned in class the flu is heavily researched and monitored year round it would be more likely yo become detected early.
“Bioterrorism Response Planning.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 Jan. 2017, www.cdc.gov/smallpox/bioterrorism-response-planning/index.html.