The UK Health Security Agency’s new Priority Pathogens reference tool aims to support national funders of research and development into diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today published what it views are the pathogens that could pose the greatest risk to public health in a bid to help fight against them.
The list of 24 pathogen families – in the form of a reference tool – is the first specifically designed to consider both global public health threats as well as those most relevant to a people living in the UK. It offers information on pathogen families the UKHSA thinks further research would be most beneficial to boost preparedness against future biosecurity risks, particularly around diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics. Research and development across a range of other pathogen families not on this list also remains vital, the government agency adds.
For each viral family included in the tool, an indicative rating of high, moderate, or low pandemic and epidemic potential is suggested. These ratings are the opinions of scientific experts within UKHSA who have considered routes of transmission and severity of disease arising from pathogens in each family to inform the ratings.
This rating does not indicate which pathogen UKHSA considers most likely to cause the next pandemic – but rather those pathogens requiring increased scientific investment and study. This includes those pathogens where we need increased vaccine or diagnostics development, or those which may be exacerbated by a changing climate or antimicrobial resistance.
Among the pathogen families where UKHSA is keen to see greater scientific strides made are the coronaviridae family, which includes Covid-19; the paramyxoviridae family which includes Nipah virus, and the orthomyxoviridae family which includes avian influenza. However, the reference tool is not a detailed threat assessment and the list of families included in this tool is not exhaustive and the families are not ranked.
Priorities and risks will change with updates in epidemiology and progress will be made with the development of diagnostics and countermeasures. The tool, set to be updated each year, must be used with other information as appropriate and represents a snapshot at one point in time, says UKHSA.
Dr Isabel Oliver, Chief Scientific Officer for UKHSA, said: “This tool is a vital guide for industry and academia, highlighting where scientific research can be targeted to boost UK preparedness against health threats. We are using the tool as part of our conversations with the scientific community, to help ensure that investment is focused to where it can have the biggest impact.
“We hope this will help to speed up vaccine and diagnostics development where it is most needed, to ensure we are fully prepared in our fight against potentially deadly pathogens.” The 24 priority pathogen families are broken down into bacterial and viral.
Below is the list along with related disease(s) in brackets:
Viral
- Adenoviridae (Adenovirus infection)
- Arenaviridae (Lassa fever)
- Calciviridae (Norovirus infection)
- Coronaviridae (MERS)
- Filoviridae (Ebola virus disease; Sudan virus disease; Marburg virus disease)
- Flaviviridae (Dengue virus; Zika virus; Hepatitis C virus)
- Hantaviridae (Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome – HFRS)
- Nairoviridae (Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever)
- Orthomyxoviridae (Flu)
- Paramyxoviridae (Nipah virus infection)
- Peribunyaviridae (Oropouche virus)
- Phenuiviridae (Rift Valley fever; Severe fever with thrombocytopenia virus syndrome)
- Picornaviridae (Acute flaccid myelitis)
- Pneumoviridae (hMPV infection)
- Poxviridae (Mpox)
- Togaviridae (ChikungunyavirusChikungunya)
Bacterial
- Bacillaceae (Anthrax)
- Coxiellaceae (Q-fever)
- Enterobacteriaceae (Pneumonia, bloodstream and wound infections; Gastro-intestinaldisease, HUS; Cystitis, Pyelonephritis; Plague)
- Francisellacae (Tularaemia)
- Moraxellaceae (Pneumonia, Bloodstream infections, UTI)
- Neisseriaceae (Gonorrhoea)
- Staphylococcaceae (Cellulitis, Endocarditis, Pneumonia)
- Streptococcaceae (Pharyngitis, Impetigo, Scarlet fever, Septicaemia; Chorioamnionitis, Pneumonia, Meningitis, Septicaemia)