Next pandemic looms

“Only one to three mutations are missing …”

The World Health Organization lists around 470 reported H5N1 deaths worldwide from 2003 to the end of 2024.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Five years after the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, experts believe we are still not prepared for another pandemic. But even if we can no longer hear it: The next one could be looming sooner than we would like. Bird flu, for example, sounds harmless at the moment, but "we absolutely have to take it seriously".

It is indeed already five years since SARS-CoV-2 (commonly known as corona or Covid-19), a virus that was completely unknown at the time, paralyzed the world in a previously unimagined way. Since then, lessons have been learned from the mistakes made in dealing with the virus - but not enough. Not only national experts see it this way, but also the WHO. Virologists also criticize not only the fact that health authorities are still unable to quickly gather and share information about new pathogens, but also people's increasing vaccination scepticism and disinformation, which can lead to major problems.

Which pathogens are candidates for pandemics
When new threats of global proportions are lurking. The WHO has identified several pathogens that could trigger major epidemics or pandemics. The current list includes Covid-19, the Ebola and Marburg viruses, Lassa fever, the respiratory diseases MERS and SARS, the Zika virus and a still unknown but potentially threatening "disease X" - and in addition to virologist Tom Peacock from Imperial College London, Viennese molecular biologist Ulrich Elling also warns of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which should be taken "very seriously". Elling, who discovered the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omikron on November 24, 2021, explains how quickly it could happen in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.