Paramyxoviridae, picornaviridae, and orthomyxoviridae.
You might not have heard of them, but these are among virus families at high risk of causing the next pandemic, according to a threat list released by the government.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a new tool to guide priorities for research, setting out which bacteria and viruses are most likely to cause a public health risk.
They range from the wellknown (who could forget Covid-19, with us for five years now), to the more obscure (you probably won’t catch Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever at a UK toddler group).
The ‘priority pathogens’ list is designed to help scientists and researchers focus their efforts where they are most needed, for example with vaccine development and medication.
The list of 24 pathogen families is also the first to consider global health threats, as well as threats specific to the UK population.
Each group was given a rating of high, medium or low risk for a pandemic and localised epidemic.
As well as viruses, bacteria are assessed in the list, and given a rating of how resistant they are to drugs such as antibiotics.
Among the viral families classed as high risk for both epidemics and pandemics are coronaviridae, which includes Covid-19, and the orthomyxoviridae family, which includes bird flu.
It also includes paramyxoviridae, which causes Nipah virus, outbreaks of which have mostly been found in South East Asia, but which has the potential to spread worldwide.
Dr Isabel Oliver, chief scientific officer for UKHSA, said: ‘We live at the time of increasing challenges and increasing risks from infectious diseases.
‘But at the same time we have got, thanks to scientific advancement, better tools than we’ve ever had to protect health against these threats.
‘Having said that there are areas where we still need more or better diagnostics, vaccines and medicines and therapeutics, and this tool has been designed to help inform the work of government research funders, but also our partners in industry and academia who are critical to the development of these tools that we so desperately need.’
Experts assessed the pandemic and epidemic potential of each viral family by looking at the severity of disease, routes of transmission and previous pandemics among known pathogens in the family.
Dr Oliver added: ‘We haven’t ranked because the situation is constantly evolving, as you can imagine, and one of the things that we do in the UKHSA is undertake surveillance and monitor threats.
‘I think it is fair to say that we are concerned about all of the families in this and not exclusively so.
‘This is an important lesson from from the Covid-19 pandemic, is that it is really important that we consider the breadth of potential threats to health, and that we continue to monitor the situation and flexibly respond to those.
‘So our approach is very much to increase our resilience against all families of of concern and to work with partners to advance resilience across all of these.’
Among the UKHSA’s concerns is the spread of disease-causing mosquitoes and ticks due to climate and environmental change.
She added that some diseases on the list, like Ebola, may not be present in the UK but have an impact globally.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: First part of British Isles set to legalise assisted dying after landmark vote
MORE: Ex-England defender Stuart Pearce reveals what caused terrifying medical emergency on plane
MORE: Grandmother waited 14 hours for an ambulance after slipping over in the bath
