The paper examines an intelligence failure that occurred during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through a literature review, it has been determined that the role of the intelligence community during the emergence of infectious diseases involves early detection and warning, as well as analyzing the behavior of states where pandemics have occurred. The intelligence community compares official statements issued by affected states with information obtained through its own collection methods. This approach best allows for assessing the true severity of the problem and the transparency of the affected state. The paper analyzes the actions of the intelligence community and the political leadership of the United States between December 2019 and March 2020, corresponding to the period from the first emergence of information about an unidentified disease to the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The intelligence failure is examined from the perspective of political leadership, issued warnings, organizational barriers, and analytical challenges. The conclusion of the paper is that, although certain deficiencies in the organization and functioning of the intelligence community were identified, the intelligence failure occurred due to the disregard of warnings and the absence of reaction from the political leadership. The intelligence community sufficiently early warned about the threat posed by the disease. The key issue lies in the fact that the reports of the intelligence community did not have an impact on decision-makers.