Zimbabwe reports first MPox cases

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), which tracks and monitors global pandemic preparedness, released its annual report today.

“Outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in cattle and its transmission to humans, as well as a new strain of Mpox in central Africa, are the latest worrying signals,” the report begins. “The high likelihood that they will continue to spread should be a wake-up call for the global community.”

The report describes 15 key drivers of pandemic risk, categorized into social, technological, environmental, economic and political. Despite the interconnectedness within the scientific community, distrust of governments at home and abroad threatens global health, according to the report.

Restoring trust in public health and science is paramount ahead of a future pandemic, the report said. It is also emphasized that the next pandemic is unlikely to be comparable to COVIV-19.

There is a risk that focusing solely on the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to preparing for the last battle rather than the next.

“There is a risk that focusing solely on the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in preparing for the last battle rather than the next,” the report said.

Threat of tropical diseases

Overall, the report says countries must adopt a One Health approach as the animal-human interface will be the likely source of the next pandemic.

““Places that have a dense human-animal-environment interface and are rapidly changing are ripe to become new hotspots for the emergence of novel diseases with epidemic potential,” the authors write. B. mosquito-borne epidemics, including dengue fever or yellow fever.

The report also mentioned the ongoing MPOX outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the discovery of polio in Gaza to illustrate how political instability can have serious public health consequences.