Massive pandemic could cost global economy more than $60 billion a year: Report

A new report by the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future has found that a huge global pandemic like the 1918 influenza outbreak could cost the global economy over $60 billion in average annual losses, CNBC reports.

Severe outbreaks of infectious diseases are likely to pose much greater risk to the global economy than financial crises or wars, the report said. Smaller outbreaks can also have a huge impact. Although the Ebola epidemic in Africa never reached pandemic levels, it cost roughly $2 billion.

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