It's been almost a century since New Zealand suffered its deadliest virus outbreak ever, with one leading researcher saying it's only a matter of time before the next pandemic hits.
The deadliest virus outbreak mentioned was the Spanish Flu, which killed 9000 people when it hit the country in 1918, after being brought home by troops in World War l.
"It's absolutely a case of when, not if, we will have another pandemic. The question is when we do get another pandemic is how severe will it be?" Dr Nikki Turner from the Immunisation Advisory Centre told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp.
"And there's a whole lot of factors in that."
Her grim message comes after an "average" cold and flu season that still saw 3500 Kiwis hospitalised.
"The flu season this year in New Zealand was relatively mild, in contrast to Australia who had one of the worst flu seasons ever," Dr Turner said.
Her best advice to make sure the risk of a pandemic is minimised is for healthy New Zealanders to get the flu vaccine.
"The reason for very healthy people to get the flu vaccine is not just to protect themselves or to reduce their time off work but so that we don't spread it to others," she said.
It's hoped these measures will stave off a repeat of the deadly 1918 outbreak which took so many lives.
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