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ATLANTA -- In his 3 decades as the nation's top advisor on infectious diseases, , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said that there has been one constant -- every presidential administration during his tenure navigated an unexpected outbreak of emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases.
There's no reason to believe the Trump administration will be any different, he said during a keynote speech at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting.
That's also the message Fauci said he delivered when he met with members of Trump's administration, shortly before the inauguration, although he did not share what actions the Trump administration might take in the event of an infectious disease crisis.
Fauci noted that, just months into his first term, President Obama faced the first pandemic of the 21st century in the form of the H1N1 influenza outbreak of 2009.
"It turned out not to be particularly severe, but it was a pandemic," he said.
Fauci told AAAAI attendees that influenza, Zika, and the acceleration of antimicrobial resistance will continue to challenge public health officials.
He also warned that it some unanticipated infectious disease threat will most likely emerge, something he has see happen more than once during his time at NIAID, he told Ƶ.
"I've been the director of NIAID for more than 32 years, and from the first day I walked in under the Reagan administration, we had the early outbreak of AIDS. Now we are dealing with Zika, so we have gone from A to Z," he said.
Fauci said there has never been an extended period when policymakers and public health officials weren't dealing with some level of infectious disease outbreak.
"We are experiencing them right now, and it would be foolish to think that in the future we are not going to see more emerging and reemerging infections, so we need to prepare for them by making sure we have countermeasures, like vaccines and technologies, in place," he said.
Fauci listed critical strategies, including adequate global surveillance of infectious diseases; transparency and swift communication when outbreaks occur; global infrastructure to achieve timely response to disease outbreaks; and a stable funding mechanism to respond to them.
He cited the delay in allocating federal funds for the Zika outbreak, and the continued piecemeal funding aimed at containing its spread, as an example of why such strategies are necessary.
Fauci called the development of a universal influenza vaccine a realistic goal and a high priority. He pointed out that while this year's targeted flu vaccine is being called a success, it is still only about 48% effective against the current crop of viruses causing flu outbreaks.