Australian scientists have identified the five types of virus that pose the greatest pandemic threat and have told the federal government to start bolstering its defences.
increasing dramatically as the climate crisis and deforestation push humans and animals ever-closer together“Large-scale viral outbreaks are increasing in frequency and severity,” said Greg Williams, associate director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO. “There will be another one.”
“That can leave us vulnerable. Because we don’t know which of these technologies will be needed for the next pandemic,” said Williams, the report’s co-author. Biosecurity Queensland staff take samples from horses on a property in Mount Alford after a hendra detection in 2011.Antivirals such as Paxlovid can effectively treat people with COVID-19, but they took more than two years to be approved in Australia. The report argues that work to produce broad-spectrum antivirals for high-risk viruses must start now.
A key theme running through the report is the need for better co-ordination between the state and federal governments. Britain, for example, was able to link several hospitals together to run huge and effective clinical trials.
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