Europe must get prepared for the ‘high risk’ of a flu pandemic, according to a top World Health Organization (WHO) official.
Epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the UN agency’s acting director for pandemic preparedness claims it is a ‘certainty’ that the continent will face another pandemic with the threat of flu jumping from animals to humans,
Arguing that Covid would not be ‘the last pandemic we will deal with in our lifetimes’ she warned that an unknown future threat could strike in unprecedented fashion.
And is Europe going to put up with whatever new rules and vaccines that they try to impose upon the people?
The Mail Online reports: She told Health in Europe: ‘For me, flu is a certainty because it’s so much in circulation. It’s infected many different species.
‘We have avian influenza and the opportunities for reassortance [genetic changes to a virus that allow it to jump between species], the opportunities for a pandemic of influenza virus are high.
‘That’s why we have a whole system in place to be prepared for this. The challenge is, will we see another coronavirus pandemic?
‘Given that we had SARS-CoV-2 cause a pandemic, for sure, this is an opportunity. The question is, will we see an Arbovirus pandemic?’
Arboviruses, also known as arthropod-borne viruses, refer to infections spread to people by the bite of infected insects such as mosquitoes and ticks.
She added: ‘Now, I’m not saying this to scare people who are listening to this, but for us, it’s something that we have to be prepared for.
‘So, we have to think out of the box. Really prepare for what are the known threats, but also think out of the box for something different, perhaps waterborne or whatnot.
‘So for me, pandemics, unfortunately, are part of what we will deal with in our lifetimes.
‘I don’t believe this will be the last pandemic we will deal with in our lifetimes.’
For decades, leading scientists have warned bird flu is the most likely contender for triggering the next pandemic.
Experts say this is because of the threat of recombination, when two viruses merge to create a hybrid.
High natural levels of human flu raise the risk of someone having both at the same time, which can spawn such a situation.
Others have long speculated disease X — representing a hypothetical, currently unknown pathogen — would more generally come from zoonotic transmission, an animal virus or bacteria that jumps to humans.
Some have even warned that this could be sparked by a biological mutation, or an accident or terror attack, that catches the world by surprise and spreads fast.
The now-defunct Public Health England also warned in 2019 that the growing threat of superbugs could help a once harmless bacteria into becoming disease X.
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