1) A viral outbreak ranks among the most likely scenarios in which a quarter of humanity dies, above some stuff people pay way more attention to.
2) Surely *this* particular virus couldn't possibly turn out to be as bad as people think...
It's unlikely that 1/4th of humanity will die. So though a viral infection ranks among the most likely causes of that scenario, it's very unlikely. The chance of this particular virus doing so much damage is even smaller.
I think we should allocate more resources to preventing a global pandemic, especially relative to other, better funded risks.
And yet, any particular pandemic doesn't feel *as* scary or urgent to me as it apparently does to others.