I’m a medical detective that has spent my career investigating numerous infectious disease outbreaks, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

In 2001, I helped form CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, which is actively involved in a number of infectious disease issues including COVID-19, antimicrobial resistance, influenza, and chronic wasting disease. CIDRAP also has a full-time news team that provides visitors with current, comprehensive, and authoritative information on a daily basis free of charge.

In 2017, Mark Olshaker and I wrote the book Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, detailing the world’s most pressing infectious disease threats and laying out a nine-point strategy on how to address them. Two years ago, I wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that pointed to vulnerabilities in our supply chains, which unfortunately is playing out now. We weren’t prepared then and we needed to do better.

Now we’re in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic and we’re still not prepared. The coming months are going to be challenging and there are things that we must do, such as keeping our frontline healthcare workers safe. However, we will get through this and hopefully learn from our mistakes before the next pandemic emerges.

Ask me anything.

Other links:

• The Joe Rogan Experience #1439 – Michael Osterholm
• Red Table Talk: What You Need to Know about Coronavirus
• The Peter Attia Drive Podcast: COVID-19—Lessons learned, challenges ahead, and reasons for optimism and concern

Edit: Thanks for all of the great and thoughtful questions. I have to sign off but before I go, I want to highlight CIDRAP’s recently launched weekly podcast that I’m co-hosting on the COVID-19 pandemic. The first episode of The Osterholm Update: COVID-19 came out last week and the second one will be out in the next day or two. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and on the CIDRAP website. Subscribe and listen to each episode of the podcast to hear my perspective on the latest COVID-19 news, data, and guidance. Thanks again!