WHO publishes list of top emerging diseases likely to cause major epidemics

WHO HQ SHOC Room WHO /Christopher Black

10 December 2015 -- A panel of scientists and public health experts convened by WHO met in Geneva this week to prioritise the top five to ten emerging pathogens likely to cause severe outbreaks in the near future, and for which few or no medical countermeasures exist. These diseases will provide the basis for work on the WHO Blueprint for R&D preparedness to help control potential future outbreaks.

This priority list forms the backbone of the new WHO Blueprint for R&D preparedness by focusing accelerated R&D on dangerous pathogens which are the most prone to generate epidemics. As well as advocating for the initiation or enhancement of the R&D process to develop diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for the five to ten diseases, the Blueprint will also consider behavioural interventions, and filling critical gaps in scientific knowledge to allow the design of better disease control measures.

The group of experts who developed the list represented a range of disciplines, including virology, microbiology, immunology, public health, clinical medicine, mathematical and computational modelling, product development, and respiratory and severe emerging infections. The conclusions of the experts were reviewed by the Blueprint’s independent Scientific Advisory Group.

Future action in this area includes fine-tuning of the prioritization methodology and the development of practical tools to assess any new diseases that may emerge.

Three other diseases were designated as 'serious', requiring action by WHO to promote R&D as soon as possible; these were chikungunya, severe fever with thrombocytopaenia syndrome, and Zika.

Other diseases with epidemic potential - such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Avian influenza and Dengue - were not included in the list because there are major disease control and research networks for these infections, and an existing pipeline for improved interventions.

Workshop on prioritization of pathogens