Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security find that a potential global catastrophic risk-level pandemic pathogen will most likely have a respiratory mode of transmission.
“... Cultivating and maintaining expertise in the epidemiology, surveillance, and pathogenicity of all classes of microbes, with explicit incorporation of a One Health approach—which incorporates and integrates information from infectious diseases of plants, amphibians, and reptiles—will help foster the flexible and robust capacity needed for pandemic preparedness and GCBR work. ...”
GLOBAL PANDEMIC PATHOGEN: Characteristic, host factors – Outbreak News release today...
and see http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2018/180510-pandemic-pathogens-report.pdf
Recommendation 1: Preparedness against GCBR-level threats should have a focused approach with some flexibility.
Though the highest-ranked pandemic potential pathogens
were RNA viruses spread via the respiratory route, it is
important to distinguish between what is most likely and what
is possible. RNA viruses spread via the respiratory route merit
prioritization, but other classes of microbes, such as bacteria,
fungi, and protozoa, should not be dismissed.
Since RNA viruses that are spread via the respiratory route
have the characteristics that are most concerning in terms of
their ability to cause global catastrophic threats, surveillance,
science, and countermeasure development programs and
efforts should logically allocate significant resources to them.
Except for influenza and certain coronaviruses, this is largely
not the case. In addition, as we said above, other classes of
infections should not be ignored given their pandemic
potential characteristics.
Cultivating and maintaining expertise in the epidemiology,
surveillance, and pathogenicity of all classes of microbes, with
explicit incorporation of a One Health approach—which
incorporates and integrates information from infectious
diseases of plants, amphibians, and reptiles—will help foster
the flexible and robust capacity needed for pandemic
preparedness and GCBR work.
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