Health experts reveal 24 infectious diseases that could pose major threat to public health – see full list

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ebola, plague and bird flu have been added to a watchlist of 24 infectious diseases that could pose a future threat to public health, experts have said.

Some viruses on the list have the potential to cause a global pandemic, like Covid, while others have no existing treatments or are thought to cause serious harm to health.

Mosquito-spread illnesses and avian flu are on the list because they may become more common as temperatures rise due to climate change, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

The list has been created by UKHSA as a reference tool to help steer scientists into making new tests, vaccines and medication in preparation for a future possible outbreak.

Dr Isabel Oliver, Chief Scientific Officer for UKHSA, said: “We hope this will help to speed up vaccine and diagnostics development where it is most needed, to ensure we are fully prepared in our fight against potentially deadly pathogens.”

Some viruses on the list have the potential to cause a global pandemic, like Covid (Getty Images)

The list is set to be updated at least once a year in hopes to avoid a repeating mistakes that were made early in the Covid pandemic.

“When Covid arrived, it took too long to adjust our response to a different threat, which was part of the reason we ended up in lockdown,” Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and Director of the Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa, University of Edinburgh, said.

“Since the pandemic, there have been many initiatives to better understand the diversity of pandemic threats that the UK and the world may face in the coming years. The UKHSA’s pathogen prioritisation exercise is a welcome contribution to this global effort,” he added.

Viruses on the list includes those in the Filoviridae family, such as Marburg and Ebola haemorrhagic fevers and Flaviviridae which includes mosquito-borne viruses’ dengue and Zika. Viruses that cause Covid-19 and avian flu are also on the list.

Some bacteria also feature, including those such as gonorrhoea where resistance to existing antibiotic treatments is becoming an issue.

One family of viruses on the list is Paramyxoviridae, which includes measles. This is a virus health-agencies around the world are most concerned about.

Professor Woolhouse added: “A novel measles-like virus would pose a threat far worse than Covid. Such a virus would have a much higher R number than the original variants of Covid – making it impossible to control by even the strictest lockdown.

“It would also be considerably more deadly, and (unlike Covid) it would be a threat to children. This is the kind of pandemic that public health agencies around the world are most concerned about.”

The list of 24 diseases or pathogens:

Adenovirus

Lassa fever

Norovirus

Mers

Ebola (and similar viruses, such as Marburg)

Flaviviridae (which includes dengue, Zika and hepatitis C)

Hantavirus

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever

Flu (non-seasonal, including avian)

Nipah virus

Oropouche