Americans See Spread of Disease as Top International Threat, along with Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, and Cyber Attacks

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from March 3 to 29, Americans identified the spread of infectious diseases as the greatest international threat. Nearly all U.S. adults surveyed (98 percent) say this is at least a minor threat, with roughly eight-in-ten (79 percent) naming outbreaks of disease as a major threat to the country. While this may not be too surprising given the ongoing situation with COVID-19, the current data puts diseases 27 percentage points higher than the level of concern that was assessed in the midst of the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014. But infectious disease is not the only issue where Americans see a major threat. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed identified both terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons as a major threat. And 72 percent assessed cyber attacks from other countries as a major threat. Access the survey results at the Pew Research Center.