Economists and public-health authorities have been warning of the global economic threat of a pandemic for decades. In 2004 the World Health Organization reported on globalization and the impact of a global pandemic. In 2008 the European Molecular Biology Organization looked at the cost of pathogens around the world, noting that "we are witnessing a slow realization among public-health experts and the general public that infectious diseases are back with a vengeance."
In 2018 the International Monetary Fund analyzed how epidemics have directly affected various economies across the globe, calling for "proactive steps to manage the risk of epidemics and mitigate their impact."