The next global pandemic is coming, experts warn, and like ebola, COVID\u002D19, HIV\u002DAIDS and rabies, it will probably cross over to humans from animals
1.67 million unknown viruses
“With the resources and technologies we have now, I don’t think it’s too much to ask to be ready for 120 different viruses … so, I just think it’s a call to action to have much more investment in basic research, and preparedness and understanding of biology and understanding of the threats,” Graham says.
Populations don’t have to live in tropical zones or hot spots to risk exposure, since the main drivers of the next Disease X pandemic seem to be land usage change, deforestation, population growth, and activities such as wildlife trade, where “humans come in contact with ‘new to us’ pathogens,” explains Jarod Hanson, chief content officer of Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases in Maryland. “By the time we recognize the occurrence of a Disease X in humans, spillover has already taken place.
Hanson says ProMED, unlike government organizations, can inform the public about the initial case first captured by informal and/or local reporting, whether it be via social media, local media or when that case first presents to a health-care worker. Reports are curated by experts and key pieces of missing information are added.
“But it wasn’t until a local media source captured it and ProMED disseminated it that it was identified as a real threat,” Hanson says. “In outbreaks with pandemic potential, any extra days we can move the response to the left on the timeline means lives and dollars saved.”Article contentBarney Graham, Morehouse School of Medicine
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