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Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness?

Researchers warn that plans to prevent the next global outbreak don’t consider the failures that have fuelled our current predicament.
  1. Amy Maxmen
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A woman holds a black chicken as an unseen vet inserts a swab into its beak to test for H5N1 virus, India

A veterinary doctor in Shahpur, India, tests a chicken for H5N1 influenza in January after migratory birds were reported dead in the area. Credit: Sanjay Baid/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

As nations struggle to control the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists warn that deadly outbreaks of other viruses are inevitable. History is clear on this: more than six distinct influenza pandemics and epidemics have struck in just over a century. Ebola viruses have spilled over from animals about 25 times in the past five decades. And at least seven coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have brought illness and death.

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Nature 596, 332-335 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02217-y

References

  1. The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness & Response. COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic (Independent Panel, 2021).

  2. Hay, A. J. & McCauley, J. W. Influenza Other Respir. Viruses 12, 551–557 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Anand, A., Sandefur, J. & Subramanian, A. Three New Estimates of India’s All-Cause Excess Mortality during the COVID-19 Pandemic. CGD Working Paper 589 (Center for Global Development, 2021).

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  4. Tan, A. X., Hinman, J. A., Magid, H. S. A., Nelson, L. M. & Odden, M. C. JAMA Netw. Open 4, e218779 (2021).

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