system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Would it be possible for an epidemic relative to the size of the Bubonic Plague to happen today?
gpt
Yes, the SARS epidemic is a good example of how a respiratory virus can quickly spread from China to Toronto. It narrowly missed spreading like a wildfire. I've been watching some animal diseases especially in herded animals which can spread rapidly among the animals (not humans), kill (depending on the strain), and be undetectable through routine surveillance until essentially it spreads to a new location.  If a similar virus affected humans with a few days latency period and high virulency...definitely.

Edit: I've been involved in national planning meetings in regards to such scenarios with the Dept of Homeland Security, USDA, FDA, CDC, state health officials, and academia.