I don't doubt that if we devote enough attention, we can solve this problem. What I am afraid of, is that we will wait until it becomes a real and immediate threat before we dedicate any effort.

The black death bubonic plague killed around a hundred million people, almost half of Europe's population. World war 2 got close to that number of deaths, but the black plague bacterium remains the most efficient killer of humanity on record.

Something that terrible sometimes has to be personified, just to make it comprehensible.