Prepare for a disease even deadlier than Covid, WHO chief warns

The planet should be ready for a disease even deadlier than Covid, the head of the World Health Organization warned.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the World Health Assembly that the threat of another public health crisis could not be kicked “down the road.”

He also claimed that despite the darkest days of the pandemic being consigned to history, a doomsday Covid variant with the power to send the world back to square one could still spawn.

Speaking yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland, Dr Tedros added: ‘The threat of a new variant causing new waves of disease and death remains.

“And the threat of another pathogen with an even deadlier potential remains.”

In 2018, WHO identified nine priority diseases (listed) that pose the greatest risk to public health. They were considered the most risky due to lack of treatments or their ability to cause a pandemic

He was speaking as WHO unveiled a new global plan to detect and track the most dangerous pathogens at an annual meeting of its 194 member states.

No specific infectious threats were mentioned. However, “Disease X,” a placeholder for an as-yet-undiscovered devastating pathogen, is on the UN agency’s list of pressing threats.

Dr Tedros’ comments come after WHO declared earlier this month that Covid was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.

Instead, the virus is now considered an “established and ongoing health problem.”

It was a big step and came three years after a group of Chinese residents in the city of Wuhan contracted a mysterious illness in December 2019.

At the 76th meeting of the WHA, WHO launched the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN). It will give all nations access to genomic sequencing to identify and respond to emerging disease threats using genomics.

Genomics – the study of the genetic material found in a virus – helps scientists discover mutations that can make a pathogen more contagious or deadly.

Scientists can then develop treatments and vaccines that work against them, while countries can respond in a timely manner.

The IPSN will see researchers, governments, charities and the private sector working together to monitor bugs.

Dr. Tedros said, “We can’t throw this can into the street.

“When the next pandemic comes – and it will – we must be prepared to respond decisively, collectively and justly.”

The WHO previously identified nine priority diseases that pose the greatest risk to public health. They were considered the most risky due to lack of treatments or their ability to cause a pandemic.

Covid is on the list, along with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, a disease transmitted by ticks that kills 30 percent of those hospitalized.

Ebola, which kills about half of those it infects, is also mentioned. It causes vomiting, diarrhea, rash, yellowing of the skin and eyes, and bleeding from multiple orifices, including the eyes, ears, and mouth.

Marburg, one of the deadliest pathogens ever discovered, with an 88 percent fatality rate, also poses a threat. It causes similar symptoms to Ebola.

Lassa fever, which is mild or causes no symptoms in 80 percent of cases, kills about one to three percent of those it infects. It is endemic to parts of West Africa, but only 11 cases and one death have ever been recorded in the UK.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are also on WHO’s pandemic watch list.

This image, from March 2020, showed the Covid pandemic in a visual timeline and compared it to the deadliest pandemics in history. It shows that the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, was the deadliest of all diseases, killing about 200 million people in the 14th century. However, Covid is shown to be killing 6,400 people right now. The WHO estimates it has now killed 20 million

MERS causes fever and cough that can progress to pneumonia and difficulty breathing. It was first seen in the Middle East in 2012 and kills about 35 percent of those it infects.

SARS, first identified in China in 2003, was the first serious and contagious new disease of this century and has a three percent fatality rate.

Nipah virus, first observed in humans in 1998, causes a flu-like illness that can progress to difficulty breathing. It kills about three quarters of those with confirmed infections.

The WHO is also concerned about Rift Valley fever, spread by infected animals and mostly spotted in sub-Saharan Africa. It kills about one percent of those infected.

The Zika virus, another worrisome pathogen, is mainly spread by mosquitoes and is usually mild. Serious cases are rare, but it can cause complications for pregnant women and babies.

The UN health organization also warned of ‘Disease X’, reflecting that the next pandemic could be caused by a pathogen that is currently not known to cause disease in humans.

WHO officials are currently working on an updated list.