The 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak put the entire world on alert. In 2003, SARS crossed the world, 26 in Asia and reaching Canada in less than a day. Then, in 2012, a new virus, named Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), emerged and continued to spread globally with outbreaks now taking place in South Korea. The current outbreak there has led to more than 30 deaths and hundreds of people in 27 . In 2014, the Ebola virus has 28 more than 30,000 people across ten countries to date. 用 Experts agree that potential epidemics and future outbreaks may occur, but the lessons learned from previous ones should enable a faster response. The key is to identify the virus, to estimate its threat and its potential to spread across a population, and to put a 29 preparedness plan into action. However, the challenge is that the world is ill prepared for severe and sustained disease because human behavior plays a key role in the spread of a disease and is much harder to predict, as was the case for Ebola, where burial traditions and cultural practices aided 30 when the outbreak emerged.