The United Kingdom (UK) has established a new “watch list” comprising 24 infectious diseases identified as posing the most significant future threats to public health.
This strategic initiative aims to galvanize scientific research and investment into the development of crucial diagnostic tests, vaccines, and treatments.
The list encompasses a range of potential threats, including viruses with pandemic potential, such as those similar to COVID-19, as well as illnesses lacking existing treatments or capable of causing substantial harm.
Notable inclusions are avian influenza (bird flu) and mosquito-borne diseases, which are expected to proliferate due to climate change-induced temperature increases, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Global effort
Prof. Isabel Oliver, chief scientific officer at UKHSA, emphasized that the list does not rank the diseases, as threat levels are dynamic and subject to change.
The list will be reviewed and updated at least annually, a measure designed to prevent a recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which global health experts were primarily focused on preparing for an influenza outbreak.
“When Covid arrived, it took too long to adjust our response to a different threat, which was part of the reason we ended up in lockdown,” stated Prof. Mark Woolhouse, director of Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa, University of Edinburgh.
He added, “Since the pandemic, there have been many initiatives to better understand the diversity of pandemic threats that the UK and the world may face in the coming years. The UKHSA’s pathogen prioritisation exercise is a welcome contribution to this global effort.”
Highly spreadable
The list also includes viruses from the Paramyxoviridae family, which includes measles. Prof. Woolhouse highlighted that a novel measles-like virus was a significant concern for public health agencies worldwide.
Such a virus would be “highly spreadable and ‘impossible to control by even the strictest lockdown’, making it ‘a threat far worse than COVID-19,'” Prof. Woolhouse warned. “It would also be considerably more deadly and, unlike Covid, it would be a [major] threat to children.”
Prof. Oliver indicated that UKHSA will collaborate with animal health experts for future updates, as many emerging outbreaks are zoonotic diseases. Bacterial threats, such as antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, are also included in the list.
The list of 24 diseases or pathogens
- Adenovirus
- Lassa fever
- Norovirus
- Mers
- Ebola (and similar viruses, such as Marburg)
- Flaviviridae (which includes dengue, Zika and hepatitis C)
- Hantavirus
- Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever
- Flu (non-seasonal, including avian)
- Nipah virus
- Oropouche
- Rift Valley fever
- Acute flaccid myelitis
- Human metapneumovirus (HMPV)
- Mpox
- Chikungunya
- Anthrax
- Q fever
- Enterobacteriaceae (such as E. coli and Yersinia pestis, which causes plague)
- Tularaemia
- Moraxellaceae (which cause lung, urine and bloodstream infections)
- Gonorrhoea
- Staplylococcus
- Group A and B Strep