Bill Gates predicted an epidemic would kill millions in 2015

KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): Billionaire Bill Gates predicted in 2015 that there would be an epidemic that would result in millions of deaths.

He did so during a 2015 TED Talk titled "The next outbreak? We're not ready."

"If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it's most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war – not missiles but microbes," The Los Angeles Times reported Gates saying at the time.

"We have invested a huge amount in nuclear deterrents, but we've actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic. We're not ready for the next epidemic."

He was also reminded of his prediction by the host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday.

"Well, the goal of the 2015 talk... was so that the government would do the work to be ready for the next epidemic. That would have meant that we would have had diagnostics very quickly, drugs very quickly, even a vaccine – all of those things – dramatically faster than what we're going through here,” The LA Times reported Gates replying.

"I feel very confident that this time, we won't ignore the potential for the next epidemic – that this is such a dramatic thing that has reshaped our lives and the economy and created so many tragedies, we will get ready. I also think we have great examples of heroics where people are stepping up or communities are coming together to solve these problems,” he added.

"And so although it's very bad news and almost a worst-case scenario, the ingenuity of people, the compassion of people... hopefully this will renew our sense that we're in this together in our communities, in our country and in the world."

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