Commentary Given the world’s bitter experience with COVID-19, sane human beings know epidemics are major national and international security threats. Historians can cite the facts. Plagues harmed ancient Rome and China. The Black Death ravaged medieval Europe. A scar on an Egyptian mummy indicates smallpox haunted planet Earth for at least 3,000 years. However, the combination of 20th-century medical advances such as more vaccines, antibiotics, and better dental care; remarkable public health improvements, e.g., clean water; innovative agriculture leading to better diets (the Green Revolution); and quick international communication that facilitated monitoring and reporting disease outbreaks created a false sense of safety, particularly in wealthy nations. Flush toilets, good sewer systems, rodent and mosquito control—these items take money. The yellow fever vaccine and malaria pills made the Caribbean and Central America tourist havens. On occasion, the Ebola virus or a swine flu eruption burst the bubble and generated headlines. The …