The United Nations has raised alarm on a potential outbreak of another infectious disease, urging the world to be on high alert.
The United Nations (UN) secretary-general, António Guterres made this known while speaking at the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
The Secretary-General said the deadly virus COVID-19 ravaging the world for over two years won’t be the last pandemic, noting the need for preparedness and partnership to combat infectious diseases.
According to him, the world needs to learn from past outbreaks of diseases, saying that the world “cannot defeat a pandemic in an uncoordinated way”.
In his words, “COVID-19 demonstrated how quickly an infectious disease can sweep across the world, push health systems to the brink, and upend daily life for all of humanity.
“It also revealed our failure to learn the lessons of recent health emergencies like SARS, avian influenza, Zika, Ebola and others.
“And it reminded us that the world remains woefully unprepared to stop localized outbreaks from spilling across borders, and spiraling into a global pandemic.
“COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic humanity will face. Infectious diseases remain a clear and present danger to every country.
“As we respond to this health crisis, we need to prepare for the next one. This means scaling-up investments in better monitoring, early detection and rapid response plans in every country — especially the most vulnerable.
“It means strengthening primary health care at the local level to prevent collapse. It means ensuring equitable access to lifesaving interventions like vaccines for all people.
“And it means achieving Universal Health Coverage. Most of all, it means building global solidarity to give every country a fighting chance to stop infectious diseases in their tracks.
“An outbreak anywhere is a potential pandemic everywhere. On this international day of epidemic preparedness, let’s give this issue the focus, attention and investment it deserves.”
This is coming amid concerns that there could be an outbreak of Avian influenza, also known as bird flu.
Bird flu is a contagious viral disease in animals, caused by a virus loosely related to human influenza.
Scientists have raised alarm on a possible outbreak of bird flu from Israel.
Over half a billion migrating birds pass through the area every year, heading for warm African winters or balmy European summers, making this a catastrophic location for a major bird flu outbreak—right at the nexus of global avian travel.
Though it is unlikely an individual gets infected with the virus unless he/she has been in close contact with infected birds or someone with confirmed or suspected bird flu.
Data obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that from 2003 to 2021 there were 863 confirmed cases of the H5N1 virus strain of Bird flu in humans. Of these cases, 456 people died with most cases recorded in countries located in Asia.
