Threats from infectious diseases give businesses today a lot to think about on top of concerns over the global economy.
In addition to the cost of human life, Veratect a startup technology company based in Kirkland, Seattle, stressed that the surge of Influenza A (H1N1) diseases can quickly wreak havoc on businesses (especially those with global operations), critical social infrastructure, and entire economies if early containment efforts fail. Smaller companies with fewer people can also experience staff shortage if their workers have to stay home because they are sick or have to care for the sick.
The World Bank estimates that a severe infection with Avian Influenza (H5N1) could kill at least 70 million people worldwide and cost $2 trillion and plunge the world into a decade-long depression.
Flu is estimated to have a four-percent impact on a country’s GDP, said Vivienne Parry who sits on the independent committee advising the British government on vaccines.
In her online column at Globe and Mail last month, Parry said that if 20 percent of the population becomes sick, with perhaps another 10 percent of the working population at home looking after them, the effects on business and day-to-day life would be huge.
Even government agencies can be crippled by the virus. A case in point is the Philippine House of Representatives that had to suspend operations for five days last month after news that the country’s first H1N1-related fatality worked there.
When SARS hit in 2003, many technology companies in the Asia-Pacific had to shut down their manufacturing plants and ban business trips. Although the WHO has made no travel restrictions yet with regards to H1N1, there are reports that electronics companies such as Sharp, Sony and Panasonic already discourage business travels in H1N1-ravaged Mexico.
