The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the urgent need for a robust global health security apparatus and revealed the strengths and weaknesses of current systems. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) played a central role in the nation's biodefense response, demonstrating the importance of military, public health, and private-sector collaboration.
Founded in 1969, USAMRIID has long been at the forefront of biodefense research. Focused initially on protecting military personnel from biological warfare agents, USAMRIID has expanded its mission to encompass the development of medical solutions for both natural and human-created biological threats. As global health security concerns have become more intertwined with national security, USAMRIID has become prominent, transitioning from strictly a military institution to a critical player in global pandemic preparedness. The COVID-19 pandemic exemplified how an institute primarily concerned with biodefense could pivot rapidly to serve broader public health needs.
One of the most striking aspects of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) response to COVID-19 was the rapid mobilization of scientific expertise and infrastructure across various military research institutions, including USAMRIID. In early 2020, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread globally, DOD laboratories, including USAMRIID, quickly adapted their existing facilities and research protocols to focus on understanding the novel coronavirus. High-containment laboratories, such as Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) and Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities, were repurposed across the DOD to analyze the structure and behavior of SARS-CoV-2. This rapid pivot was made possible by the combined readiness of military and defense assets, ensuring a coordinated and efficient response to the emerging crisis.
As the world continues to face threats such as H5N1 avian influenza, mpox, and other emerging infectious diseases, the broader efforts of the DOD and U.S. government during the COVID-19 pandemic provide critical insights for strengthening global health security. The coordinated response, which included contributions from agencies such as USAMRIID, demonstrated the importance of leveraging military, federal, and civilian resources to combat global health crises. Reflecting on the achievements and challenges of the DOD, federal government, and their interagency partners during this unprecedented global event enables a more effective response to future pandemics.
Mobilization and Collaborative Vaccine Development
USAMRIID's experience during the pandemic underscores the vital role of the DOD, the Defense Health Agency (DHA), the U.S. Army, and other critical federal entities in maintaining advanced research and response capabilities. The investments and coordination among organizations such as the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) and the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense (DASD-CBD) were essential in enabling the rapid mobilization of resources to address the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.
These efforts were built on a foundation of preparedness, allowing the swift adaptation of existing infrastructure to tackle new threats
These efforts were built on a foundation of preparedness, allowing the swift adaptation of existing infrastructure to tackle new threats. The potential for emerging viruses to mutate and become more transmissible highlights the importance of maintaining readiness across all federal biodefense systems.
The DOD's investment in state-of-the-art research facilities, such as USAMRIID's high-containment BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories, allowed for the large-scale research efforts that led to the rapid development of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics during COVID-19. These capabilities, coupled with the JPEO-CBRND's oversight of medical countermeasure development and DASD-CBD's strategic direction, illustrate the importance of sustaining a highly coordinated federal response to emerging biological threats. The rapid mobilization to combat COVID-19 offers critical insights into how advanced infrastructure, stockpiling medical supplies, and maintaining a skilled workforce are crucial for addressing future threats like H5N1.
DOD's role in developing and testing COVID-19 vaccines demonstrates the critical importance of cross-sector collaboration in pandemic response. Close collaborations between the JPEO-CBRND, DASD-CBD, DHA, other federal agencies, academic institutions, and private-sector partners provided critical insights into the structure and behavior of SARS-CoV-2. This collaborative approach allowed for the rapid development of vaccines using novel technologies like mRNA, reducing the timeline for vaccine production by many years. This success underscores the necessity of existing partnerships and infrastructure for quickly developing, testing, and distributing vaccines for future threats, such as H5N1, which lacks a universal flu vaccine.
The emergence of mpox in 2022 reinforced the importance of existing vaccines and the preparedness infrastructure that the DOD has established. Although smallpox vaccines were repurposed to mitigate mpox, initial vaccine supply and distribution challenges revealed the need for more robust stockpiling and distribution systems. DOD's ongoing role in evaluating these vaccines ensures they remain critical tools for military and civilian biodefense strategies.
The federal government's response to COVID-19 coordinated through agencies such as USAMRIID, JPEO-CBRND, DHA, and DASD-CBD highlights the importance of sustained investment in platforms for rapid vaccine development, diagnostics, and therapeutic response. These capabilities ensure that DOD and federal government assets can swiftly protect the population from future pandemics and emerging biological threats, such as H5N1. Continued investment in biodefense infrastructure, cross-sector collaboration, and workforce readiness will remain critical to the nation's ability to respond effectively to future crises.
Diagnostics and Surveillance: The Critical Frontline
DOD's contribution to diagnostic tool development was essential in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using its virology and molecular diagnostics expertise, USAMRIID helped develop assays that quickly identified SARS-CoV-2 infections. These diagnostic tools were pivotal in expanding the U.S. testing capacity, allowing for earlier detection and containment of the virus, which were critical for mitigating the overall impact on public health systems.
Early detection will be even more crucial for H5N1, which could spread rapidly in human populations if the virus mutates to become more transmissible. As of today, diagnostic tools for H5N1 are primarily designed for avian populations, and rapid testing for humans is limited.
Mpox provides another example of how diagnostics can make or break the initial pandemic response. Early on, the lack of accessible and widely available testing for mpox hindered global efforts to track and contain the virus. The federal government's COVID-19 response shows that developing diagnostic infrastructure—laboratory capabilities or portable, field-based diagnostic kits—is essential for future pandemics. Moreover, global surveillance systems must be improved to ensure early warning and detection of emerging pathogens before they spread uncontrollably across borders.
Although mpox is less deadly than H5N1 or SARS-CoV-2, its resurgence after years of dormancy highlights the need for continuous vigilance. DOD's COVID-19 experience demonstrates the importance of rapidly deploying diagnostics and vaccines to affected populations, something that was initially delayed in the mpox response.
Moving forward, lessons from COVID-19 and mpox need to be applied to ensure that countries are prepared for future outbreaks of reemerging diseases, such as maintaining strategic stockpiles of vaccines, improving diagnostic capabilities, and strengthening global surveillance systems that can detect and track disease spread in real time.
Integration of Biodefense and Public Health
DOD's COVID-19 response exemplified how an institution focused on biodefense could integrate its capabilities into a broader public health effort. Historically, USAMRIID's mission has centered on protecting military personnel from bioweapons and naturally occurring infectious diseases that could affect military readiness. However, COVID-19 demonstrated that the skills and knowledge developed for biodefense purposes are just as relevant to civilian public health.
One of the primary lessons from this integration is the importance of preparing for dual-use scenarios in which biodefense infrastructure and expertise can be rapidly redeployed to respond to public health emergencies.
These lessons must be applied proactively to ensure that the global health security infrastructure is ready for the next pandemic
This shift is particularly relevant in the context of H5N1 or mpox. These viruses may not initially be considered bioweapons, but their potential to cause mass disruption and death requires a response from public health and biodefense sectors.
In the future, the U.S. government and global health organizations should ensure that biodefense strategies are incorporated into broader pandemic preparedness plans, which would allow institutions such as USAMRIID to lead in responding to global health crises while reinforcing that military and civilian health systems are fully integrated and prepared for future biological threats.
A Call to Action for Global Health Security
Beyond H5N1 and mpox, the world is facing an ever-growing number of emerging infectious diseases driven by factors like deforestation, climate change, and increasing human-animal interactions. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated how quickly a novel virus can spread; the same scenario could occur with many other pathogens. USAMRIID's COVID-19 response offers valuable lessons for the global health security community. It highlights the need for continuous investment in high-containment research laboratories, which are crucial for quickly understanding and developing countermeasures for emerging pathogens.
The institute's experience demonstrates what is possible when preparedness and innovation come together, from rapid diagnostics and vaccine development to integrating biodefense and public health strategies. However, as the world faces ongoing threats such as H5N1 and mpox, these lessons must be applied proactively to ensure that the global health security infrastructure is ready for the next pandemic.
Governments, international organizations, and the private sector need to work together to ensure that the lessons from COVID-19 are applied to future pandemics. By investing in diagnostics, vaccine platforms, and biosurveillance systems, we can better prepare for the inevitable challenges that lie ahead. USAMRIID's role in COVID-19 provides a roadmap for how institutions can pivot quickly in times of crisis, and its work will continue to be critical in navigating the future of global health security.
