According to scientists, influenza is a pathogen that is likely to cause a new pandemic in the near future, The Guardian reports.
According to the results of an international study, 57% of leading disease experts believe that the next global outbreak of a deadly infectious disease will be caused by a type of influenza virus.
According to Jonah Salmanton-Garcia of the University of Cologne, who participated in the study, this claim is based on years of research showing that the flu virus is constantly evolving and mutating.
“Influenza breaks out every winter. These outbreaks can be called mini-pandemics. They are more or less under control because the different strains that cause them are not virulent enough – but that won’t always be the case,” he says.
At the same time, according to 21% of experts who participated in the study, the next most likely cause of a pandemic after the flu may be a virus unknown to science, called Disease X. They believe that the next pandemic may be caused by an as-yet-unidentified microorganism that will appear unexpectedly , such as the Sars-CoV-2 virus that caused Covid-19.
Some scientists still believe that the Sars-CoV-2 virus remains a threat, with 15% of scientists in the study citing it as the most likely cause of a pandemic in the near future. Other deadly micro-organisms such as Lassa, Nipah, Ebola and Zika viruses were classified as serious global threats by only 1-2% of respondents.
At the same time, scientists also note that unlike the situation with Covid-19, when a vaccine had to be developed from scratch, vaccines against many types of influenza, including H5N1, have already been developed.
Tags: pandemic
