The number of diseases that could start another pandemic has increased to 30, which is an alarming development.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named influenza A virus, dengue virus and monkeypox virus as “priority pathogens” in an updated list.
This list is intended to support research and development activities for drugs, vaccines and diagnostics.
Ana Maria Henao Restrepo, head of WHO’s research and development plan for epidemics, said: “The prioritization process helps to identify critical knowledge gaps that need to be urgently addressed.”
Neelika Malavige, an immunologist at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Colombo, Sri Lanka, who was part of the effort, said the list needed to be revisited amid turbulent world events.
In the last two years, more than 200 experts evaluated 1,652 types of diseases, mainly viruses and some bacteria.
After a thorough analysis, they identified 30 priority diseases to be added to the list, including Merbecovirus, which includes the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that started global COVID-19. pandemic.
Now on the list is the monkeypox virus, which caused a global outbreak in 2022.
Despite being eliminated in 1980, its relative, the variola virus, which causes smallpox, was included. Since people are no longer immunized against it, they do not become immune to it.
Malavige warned that the virus could be “used by terrorists as a biological weapon”.
Six influenza A viruses are included, among them H5, the virus that caused the outbreak in cattle in the United States.
In addition, two infections that spread from person to person were included. The researchers also noted that rapid urbanization and climate change may make it more likely that these viruses will spread widely.
