World Bank: Next pandemic could cost 'millions of lives, trillions of dollars'

The World Bank Group headquarters building in Washington, D.C. - Photo: Shiny Things / Flickr

In the wake of the deadly Zika and Ebola virus outbreaks, most countries are still completely unprepared for another potential pandemic, a new study has found, warning that a serious outbreak could result in "millions of deaths and cost trillions of dollars."

"We know that it is only a matter of time before the next pandemic hits us. We also know that there is a good chance that it will be severe," said a 131-page report by the International Working Group on Financing Preparedness (IWG), established by the World Bank.

"It may mean death on a slow fuse, spreading insidiously through populations, unrecognized for years, like HIV in the 1980s. Or it may strike people down with stark violence and lightning speed, plunging national economies abruptly into chaos, like...