Washington ( CNN ) -- A pandemic is one of the few things with the power to stop the global economy in its tracks . Dr. Larry Brilliant is confident that does n't have to happen . After all , he was on the ground in Bangladesh to see the very last case of `` killer '' smallpox in the world . After 2-year-old Rahima Banu recovered following treatment , the World Health Organization declared the wicked disease was over in 1980 . `` I 'm the luckiest guy in the world , '' said Brilliant . `` There 's nothing better than working in a program like that and to know that something that horrible no longer exists . '' Speaking Thursday at the annual TEDMED conference in Washington , Brilliant made the case that several key actions will stop pandemics : early detection , early response and better cooperation among governments . Some 2,000 health professionals and thought leaders from all sectors of society are attending TEDMED at the Kennedy Center this week for a series of talks , which are also being televised in more than 80 countries . `` With all of these viruses , we have to isolate them locally and put them in jail . It 's the only way to deal with a pandemic , '' said Brilliant , now president of the Skoll Global Threats Fund . `` Early warning systems are essential to protect us from the things that are humanity 's worst nightmare . '' `` A pandemic would have not just deaths and medical consequences , but also -- social disruption . There would be global recession and depression . Millions would lose their jobs . There would be no Internet and no flights , '' explains Brilliant . `` Would you get on an airplane with 250 people coughing and sneezing , when you knew some of them might carry a disease that could kill you ? It would be apocalyptic . '' SARS 10 years on : How dogged detective work defeated an epidemic . Early detection is working . `` In 1996 , it took almost half a year -- 167 days -- to discover a potential pandemic . By 2009 , it took only 23 days , '' says Brilliant . `` The question is , how can we make that better ? If we can drive that number down to a few days , to just one incubation period , it may be 100 years before that virus has the same mutation -- maybe never . '' Early response and treatment are making a difference too . `` Viruses are much more fragile than you think , '' he said . `` H7N9 , now circulating in China , does n't go person to person -- it has to go from birds or pigs to people . That makes it more complicated to spread . So things have to go just right for a virus to become a pandemic . That 's why it 's important to contain it in one country . '' Just as the ease of international travel and the growth of global food supply chains help spread virulent new viruses , emerging technologies offer solutions to keep them at bay . `` We can find cases earlier with digital detection -- Web self-reporting , SMS , Twitter , social networking , blogging , Internet searches , online news and health reporting , '' said Brilliant , who was previously executive director of Google.org . In that capacity , Brilliant helped develop a search system to try and beat the timeline of the official flu outbreak reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . It worked . `` CDC reporting requires a patient to see a doctor , the doctor to gather samples and the samples to be analyzed , '' explains Brilliant . `` It 's a lot faster using crowd-sourcing technology -- a cellphone or a computer that simply asks a person , 'Are you healthy or sick ? ' `` Currently , there are dozens of nonprofit sites that track disease outbreaks in real time , including healthmap.org and instedd.org . `` Now , we really can see the flu coming and quickly know how to protect ourselves , '' said Brilliant . For decades , the WHO accepted information on potential outbreaks only through official channels -- via , for example , a health minister . In 2007 , the rules changed . Data now flows in through government and independent reporting . Brilliant notes that some countries are going even farther . Through the recent launch of CORDS , a new entity bringing together regional disease surveillance networks , 28 different countries officially cooperate , sharing information to curb epidemics before they become pandemics . H1N1 death toll may be 15 times higher than previously reported . `` We have to enlist everyone 's support , '' Brilliant said . `` We are all in this together . Polio and guinea worm soon will be eradicated -- and I hope to see a photo finish there . `` Eighty countries came together to end smallpox -- the disease that reigned for more than two centuries , killing pharaohs and kings , is completely gone . Today , we are finding diseases faster than anyone ever imagined . Innovations in early detection , early response and global cooperation can put an end to pandemics . We are closer every day . ''
' Brilliant has been fighting outbreaks for more than twenty years . He says early detection , early treatment and better management are keys to ending them . ` ` We have to isolate them locally and treat them in hospitals , '' he says .