Bangkok (AFP) – A global network of doctors and laboratories is working to pinpoint emerging viral threats, including many driven by climate change, in a bid to head off the world's next pandemic.
Issued on: 17/09/2024 -
Climate change is increasing the threat of infectious disease in part by extending the range of vectors like mosquitoes
© JAIME SALDARRIAGA / AFP/File
The coalition of self-described "virus hunters" has uncovered everything from an unusual tick-borne disease in Thailand to a surprise outbreak in Colombia of an infection spread by midges.
"The roster of things that we have to worry about, as we saw with Covid-19, is not static," said Gavin Cloherty, an infectious disease expert who heads the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition.
"We have to be very vigilant about how the bad guys that we know about are changing... But also if there's new kids on the block," he told AFP.
The coalition brings together doctors and scientists at universities and health institutions across the world, with funding from healthcare and medical devices giant Abbott.
By uncovering new threats, the coalition gives Abbott a potential headstart in designing the kinds of testing kits that were central to the Covid-19 response.
And its involvement gives the coalition deep pockets and the ability to detect and sequence but also respond to new viruses.
"When we find something, we're able to very quickly make diagnostic tests at industry level," Cloherty said.
"The idea is to ringfence an outbreak, so that we would be able to hopefully prevent a pandemic."
The coalition of self-described "virus hunters" has uncovered everything from an unusual tick-borne disease in Thailand to a surprise outbreak in Colombia of an infection spread by midges.
"The roster of things that we have to worry about, as we saw with Covid-19, is not static," said Gavin Cloherty, an infectious disease expert who heads the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition.
"We have to be very vigilant about how the bad guys that we know about are changing... But also if there's new kids on the block," he told AFP.
The coalition brings together doctors and scientists at universities and health institutions across the world, with funding from healthcare and medical devices giant Abbott.
By uncovering new threats, the coalition gives Abbott a potential headstart in designing the kinds of testing kits that were central to the Covid-19 response.
And its involvement gives the coalition deep pockets and the ability to detect and sequence but also respond to new viruses.
"When we find something, we're able to very quickly make diagnostic tests at industry level," Cloherty said.
"The idea is to ringfence an outbreak, so that we would be able to hopefully prevent a pandemic."
What is a virus?
© John SAEKI, Laurence CHU / AFP
The coalition has sequenced approximately 13,000 samples since it began operating in 2021.
In Colombia, it found an outbreak of Oropouche, a virus spread by midges and mosquitoes, that had rarely been seen there before.
Phylogenetic work to trace the strain's family tree revealed it came from Peru or Ecuador, rather than Brazil, another hotspot.
"You can see where things are moving from. It's important from a public health perspective," said Cloherty.
Difficult and costly
More recently, the coalition worked with doctors in Thailand to reveal that a tick-bourne virus was behind a mysterious cluster of patient cases.
The coalition has sequenced approximately 13,000 samples since it began operating in 2021.
In Colombia, it found an outbreak of Oropouche, a virus spread by midges and mosquitoes, that had rarely been seen there before.
Phylogenetic work to trace the strain's family tree revealed it came from Peru or Ecuador, rather than Brazil, another hotspot.
"You can see where things are moving from. It's important from a public health perspective," said Cloherty.
Difficult and costly
More recently, the coalition worked with doctors in Thailand to reveal that a tick-bourne virus was behind a mysterious cluster of patient cases.
Ticks are another disease vector that are expanding their geographic range
© JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP/File
"At the time, we didn't know what virus caused this syndrome," explained Pakpoom Phoompoung, associate professor of infectious disease at Siriraj Hospital.
Testing and sequencing of samples that dated back as far as 2014 found many were positive for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTSV).
"Less than 10 patients had (previously) been diagnosed with SFTSV in Thailand... we don't have PCR diagnosis, we don't have serology for this viral infection diagnosis," Pakpoom told AFP.
Diagnosing it "is difficult, labour intensive and also is costly".
And there is a growing need to track these threats as climate change expands the range of infectious disease globally.
The link between climate change and infectious disease is well-established and multi-faceted.
Warmer conditions allow vectors like mosquitoes to live in new locations, more rain creates more breeding pools, and extreme weather forces people into the open where they are more vulnerable to bites.
Human impact on the planet is also driving the spread and evolution of infectious disease in other ways: biodiversity loss forces viruses to evolve into new hosts, and can push animals into closer contact with humans.
'You have to be vigilant'
Phylogenetic analysis of the SFTSV strain in Thailand gives a snapshot of the complex interplay.
It showed the virus had evolved from one tick with a smaller geographic range into the hardier Asian longhorned tick.
"At the time, we didn't know what virus caused this syndrome," explained Pakpoom Phoompoung, associate professor of infectious disease at Siriraj Hospital.
Testing and sequencing of samples that dated back as far as 2014 found many were positive for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTSV).
"Less than 10 patients had (previously) been diagnosed with SFTSV in Thailand... we don't have PCR diagnosis, we don't have serology for this viral infection diagnosis," Pakpoom told AFP.
Diagnosing it "is difficult, labour intensive and also is costly".
And there is a growing need to track these threats as climate change expands the range of infectious disease globally.
The link between climate change and infectious disease is well-established and multi-faceted.
Warmer conditions allow vectors like mosquitoes to live in new locations, more rain creates more breeding pools, and extreme weather forces people into the open where they are more vulnerable to bites.
Human impact on the planet is also driving the spread and evolution of infectious disease in other ways: biodiversity loss forces viruses to evolve into new hosts, and can push animals into closer contact with humans.
'You have to be vigilant'
Phylogenetic analysis of the SFTSV strain in Thailand gives a snapshot of the complex interplay.
It showed the virus had evolved from one tick with a smaller geographic range into the hardier Asian longhorned tick.
Record dengue outbreaks have been recorded in several parts of the world in recent years © Juan Carlos CISNEROS / AFP/File
The analysis suggested its evolution was driven largely by pesticide use that reduced the numbers of the original tick host.
Once the virus evolved, it could spread further in part because Asian longhorned ticks can live on birds, which are travelling further and faster because of changing climate conditions.
"It's almost like they're an airline," said Cloherty.
Climate change's fingerprints are in everything from record outbreaks of dengue in Latin America and the Caribbean to the spread of West Nile Virus in the United States.
While the coalition grew from work that preceded the pandemic, the global spread of Covid-19 offered a potent reminder of the risks of infectious disease.
But Cloherty fears people are already forgetting those lessons.
"You have to be vigilant," he said.
"Something that happens in Bangkok could be happening in Boston tomorrow."
© 2024 AFP
The analysis suggested its evolution was driven largely by pesticide use that reduced the numbers of the original tick host.
Once the virus evolved, it could spread further in part because Asian longhorned ticks can live on birds, which are travelling further and faster because of changing climate conditions.
"It's almost like they're an airline," said Cloherty.
Climate change's fingerprints are in everything from record outbreaks of dengue in Latin America and the Caribbean to the spread of West Nile Virus in the United States.
While the coalition grew from work that preceded the pandemic, the global spread of Covid-19 offered a potent reminder of the risks of infectious disease.
But Cloherty fears people are already forgetting those lessons.
"You have to be vigilant," he said.
"Something that happens in Bangkok could be happening in Boston tomorrow."
© 2024 AFP
Drug-resistant superbugs projected to kill 39 million by 2050
Paris (AFP) – Infections of drug-resistant superbugs are projected to kill nearly 40 million people over the next 25 years, a global analysis predicted on Monday, as the researchers called for action to avoid this grim scenario.
Issued on: 17/09/2024 -
Paris (AFP) – Infections of drug-resistant superbugs are projected to kill nearly 40 million people over the next 25 years, a global analysis predicted on Monday, as the researchers called for action to avoid this grim scenario.
Issued on: 17/09/2024 -
Antimicrobial resistance is a natural phenomenon, but the overuse and misuse of antibiotics has made the problem worse
© Manfred Rohde / Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektions/AFP
Superbugs -- strains of bacteria or pathogens that have become resistant to antibiotics, making them much harder to treat -- have been recognised as a rising threat to global health.
The analysis has been billed as the first research to track the global impact of superbugs over time, and estimate what could happen next.
More than a million people died from the superbugs -- also called antimicrobial resistance (AMR) -- a year across the world between 1990 and 2021, according to the study in The Lancet journal.
Deaths among children under five from superbugs actually fell by more than 50 percent over the last three decades, the study said, due to improving measures to prevent and control infections for infants.
However when children now catch superbugs, the infections are much harder to treat.
And deaths of over-70s have surged by more than 80 percent over the same period, as an ageing population became more vulnerable to infection.
Deaths from infections of MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics, doubled to 130,000 in 2021 from three decades earlier, the study said.
'This threat is growing'
The researchers used modelling to estimate that -- based on current trends -- the number of direct deaths from AMR would rise by 67 percent to reach nearly two million a year by 2050.
It will also play a role in a further 8.2 million annual deaths, a jump of nearly 75 percent, according to the modelling.
Under this scenario, AMR will have directly killed 39 million people over the next quarter century, and contributed to a total of 169 million deaths, it added.
But less dire scenarios are also possible.
If the world works to improve care for severe infections and access to antimicrobial drugs, it could save the lives of 92 million people by 2050, the modelling suggested.
"These findings highlight that AMR has been a significant global health threat for decades and that this threat is growing," study co-author Mohsen Naghavi of the US-based Institute of Health Metrics said in a statement.
The researchers looked at 22 pathogens, 84 combinations of drugs and pathogens, and 11 infectious syndromes such as meningitis. The study involved data from 520 million individual records across 204 countries and territories.
It was released ahead of a high-level AMR meeting at the United Nations scheduled for September 26.
Antimicrobial resistance is a natural phenomenon, but the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans, animals and plants has made the problem worse.
© 2024 AFP
Superbugs -- strains of bacteria or pathogens that have become resistant to antibiotics, making them much harder to treat -- have been recognised as a rising threat to global health.
The analysis has been billed as the first research to track the global impact of superbugs over time, and estimate what could happen next.
More than a million people died from the superbugs -- also called antimicrobial resistance (AMR) -- a year across the world between 1990 and 2021, according to the study in The Lancet journal.
Deaths among children under five from superbugs actually fell by more than 50 percent over the last three decades, the study said, due to improving measures to prevent and control infections for infants.
However when children now catch superbugs, the infections are much harder to treat.
And deaths of over-70s have surged by more than 80 percent over the same period, as an ageing population became more vulnerable to infection.
Deaths from infections of MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics, doubled to 130,000 in 2021 from three decades earlier, the study said.
'This threat is growing'
The researchers used modelling to estimate that -- based on current trends -- the number of direct deaths from AMR would rise by 67 percent to reach nearly two million a year by 2050.
It will also play a role in a further 8.2 million annual deaths, a jump of nearly 75 percent, according to the modelling.
Under this scenario, AMR will have directly killed 39 million people over the next quarter century, and contributed to a total of 169 million deaths, it added.
But less dire scenarios are also possible.
If the world works to improve care for severe infections and access to antimicrobial drugs, it could save the lives of 92 million people by 2050, the modelling suggested.
"These findings highlight that AMR has been a significant global health threat for decades and that this threat is growing," study co-author Mohsen Naghavi of the US-based Institute of Health Metrics said in a statement.
The researchers looked at 22 pathogens, 84 combinations of drugs and pathogens, and 11 infectious syndromes such as meningitis. The study involved data from 520 million individual records across 204 countries and territories.
It was released ahead of a high-level AMR meeting at the United Nations scheduled for September 26.
Antimicrobial resistance is a natural phenomenon, but the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans, animals and plants has made the problem worse.
© 2024 AFP
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