Ebola, hantavirus: Is the world prepared for the next pandemic?
Key takeaways
- Funding cuts to health research and a growing antivaccine movement are making it harder than ever to respond to viruses.
- The WHO’s announcement on Sunday came as several countries are battling to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship trip to South America.
- These questions are particularly pertinent following the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in global lockdowns due to the lack of preparedness for the spread of the coronavirus.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Funding cuts to health research and a growing antivaccine movement are making it harder than ever to respond to viruses.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Malaysia's health officials check temperatures of passengers arriving from the US at Kuala Lumpur airport [File: Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters]By Priyanka Shankar Published On 18 May 202618 May 2026The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that an Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a “public health emergency of international concern”, setting off alarm bells around the world.
The WHO’s announcement on Sunday came as several countries are battling to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship trip to South America.