Gates warns of pandemic after first diagnosis in Africa

BILL GATES has warned that the coronavirus in Africa could overwhelm health services and trigger a pandemic resulting in 10 million deaths.

The Microsoft founder and global health pioneer was speaking at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle just hours before the first case in Africa was confirmed, in Cairo, Egypt.

There are fears the disease could spread to Sub-Saharan Africa and spark an uncontrollable outbreak, with health services unable to cope.

Mr Gates said: “We’ve always known the potential for a naturally caused, or intentionally caused, pandemic is one of the few things that could disrupt health systems and economies and cause more than 10 million deaths.

“If it spreads in areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, it could be very, very dramatic – potentially a very bad situation.”

He claimed there had been a huge under-investment in antivirals and called on China to “step-up” and provide better drugs. He said coronavirus was worrying because of the speed it could spread. “Ebola is terrible, but it’s not like a lightning flu,” he said, “and we have no immunity.”

“If this gets into Africa, will those health systems be overwhelmed? Most of the excess deaths [from Ebola] were caused because the health service shut down. It’s not just the direct effect, it’s also the panic, the overload.”

British experts said it was not surprising the disease had reached Egypt, as Cairo was a world hub and had many Chinese visitors.

The patient in Africa, a 33-year-old Chinese worker returning to the country, was isolated quickly. The 17 people with whom he had been in contact all tested negative, but scientists fear the continent’s limited health services may mean it has gone undetected elsewhere.

Dr Andrew Freedman, of Cardiff university, said: “It was inevitable the virus would spread to Africa. There may well already be cases in other African countries that have evaded detection.”

But Dr Michael Head, from Southampton university said: “It is reassuring there has been rapid contact tracing and they have tested negative. This might be an isolated case with minimal transmission.”