--- title: "The Next Pandemic Could Be “Even Deadlier,” WHO Warns" description: "The head of the World Health Organization is warning that the next pandemic following COVID-19 could be even worse." date: "2023-05-25" modified: "2023-05-25" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/next-pandemic-even-deadlier-who-warns" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "covid19" - "Pandemic" - "WHO" --- # The Next Pandemic Could Be “Even Deadlier,” WHO Warns ![The head of the World Health Organization is warning that the next pandemic following COVID-19 could be even worse.]() *\Image: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images\* The head of the World Health Organization is warning that the next pandemic — bearing in mind, of course, that we're [not even through]()[ COVID-19]() yet — could be even worse. During a meeting of the World Health Assembly in Switzerland, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to get ahead of such an eventuality. In other words, have policymakers actually learned their lesson after years of tragic deaths and suffering? "The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains," he said, as [quoted by *CBS News*](). Tedros also noted that COVID — which has [killed almost seven million people]() worldwide — hasn't gone away, but could soon be only one of several emerging threats. "The end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency is not the end of COVID-19 as a global health threat," he told member states. "We cannot kick this can down the road," he added. "When the next pandemic comes knocking — and it will — we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively and equitably." Experts have been warning that [human encounters with wildlife]() could increase the risk of transmitting pathogens from animals to humans, which likely sparked the COVID pandemic. The list of potential pathogens keeps growing. Since 2009 alone, US scientists have identified more than 900 new viruses, [*CBS* reported]() last year. Other experts have also warned that it's not just viruses we should be worried about, pointing at the [potential threat of fungi](), some of which are capable of infecting people and evading fungicides. Tedros' comments echo the sentiments of other experts who have also warned that COVID likely won't be the last pandemic in the medium-term future. "We’ll have another pandemic," Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates [told *CNBC*]() last year. "It will be a different pathogen next time." At this week's WHO meeting, Tedros urged countries to reform the way they prepare for these threats. "If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?" he said. **More on COVID:** *[Pandemic Wasn't So Bad for Mental Health, Says Broken-Brained Study]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [WHO: Coronavirus Outbreak Now Officially a Pandemic]() - [The WHO Is on the Lookout for the Disease That May Be the Next Global Pandemic]() - [We’re Officially On the Path to a Global Pandemic]() - [China Says There’s a New Disease That’s Even Deadlier Than COVID \[UPDATED\]]() - [WHO Head: We’re Still Not Sure if COVID Escaped From a Lab]() - [A New Pandemic Could Kill 80 Million People, Experts Warn]() - [Fauci Warns That Earth Has Entered a “Pandemic Era”]() - [Biden Really Screwed Up When He Said the “Pandemic Is Over”]()