Pandemic preparedness

Researchers are clear about what countries need to do to prevent another disease outbreak with pandemic potential.

Health policymakers need to cultivate social trust and plan effective communication strategies well before the next infectious disease goes global.

Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents have the power to guard against inevitable future pandemics.

Increased vigilance in hospitals, better data sharing and training drills can help ready the world to respond to infectious-disease outbreaks.

Virologist Sara Sawyer explains how the ability of an animal virus to infect humans can be tested, and highlights a viral family of concern.

Machine learning could help to identify the viruses most likely to spill over from animals to people and cause future pandemics.

Computational ecologist Xavier Rodó explains how climate modelling might be used to offer an early warning of future disease outbreaks.

Devices that use wavelengths of sanitizing ultraviolet light that are safe for people could become a more common sight.

The elimination of smallpox from every region of the world took a huge effort. Getting rid of other infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, will be even more difficult.

COVID-19 and other infectious-disease outbreaks can teach us how to respond to future threats.

Through in-house research, academic collaborations and global team building, Moderna creates an ecosystem for innovation and manufacturing.

As the emergence of viral diseases is expected to accelerate, proactive programs to develop broadly active family-specific and cross-family antiviral therapeutics will be key to prepare for future disease outbreaks.

Climate change can both facilitate zoonotic spillovers and have an effect on transmission chains. These effects, alongside human behavior and awareness, need to be integrated in pandemic forecasting models.

This Perspective chronicles the journey to the elimination of transmission of wild poliovirus in Africa, with a critical discussion of the global, continental, national and community actions that were required and the lessons learnt along the way.

Ensuring access to vaccines against COVID-19 for refugee and displaced populations and addressing health inequities are vital for an effective pandemic response.

Recent advances in computational and laboratory sciences are helping researchers to address large-scale sustained emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and constantly adapt to the emergence of new questions, data and findings in order to synthesize real-time evidence that will inform policy decisions.

Cold chain requirements, distribution challenges and high costs limit the global rollout of many vaccines. This Review discusses plant molecular farming in combination with advanced materials strategies as a new platform for the local production of thermostable vaccines and other biologics.

Emerging diseases that affect humans often arise due to the crossover of infectious agents from animal reservoirs. In this Perspective, George Warimwe and colleagues discuss the concept of ‘One Health vaccinology’, an approach that aims to use key lessons from human and veterinary immunology to develop more effective vaccination strategies for emerging infectious diseases.

Anthony Fauci on four decades of progress against HIV, and what’s needed for the future.

The continent followed Western nations too closely in its early response to the coronavirus emergency, says Nigerian virologist Oyewale Tomori.

The SARS-CoV-2 Assessment of Viral Evolution (SAVE) programme provides a real-time risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 variants with the potential to affect transmission, virulence and resistance to infection- and vaccine-induced immunity.