The next inevitable pandemic will need Nanopore tech16 Jul 2024 11:09
It's only a matter of time and nanotechnology is vital defence to combat the next pandemic.
Scientists warn global warming and deforestation are also making it increasingly likely that a viral or bacterial agent will "jump" from animals to humans and cause another pandemic.
"We're creating a situation that is rife for outbreaks," says Dr Nathalie MacDermott, clinical lecturer in infectious diseases at King's College London. "I know that COVID was very hard for people and we want to believe we can just go back to normal and I understand that entirely.
The next pandemic is around the corner - it might be two years, it could be 20 years, it could be longer - but we can't afford to let our guards down. We need to stay vigilant, prepared and ready to make sacrifices again."
Dr MacDermott explains that by cutting down trees in the Amazon and parts of Africa, animals and insects are moving closer to people's homes.
And with rising temperatures, outbreaks of mosquito and tick-borne viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) are happening in parts of Europe rarely seen before. As temperatures increase around the world, even the UK will become an area where it's possible for those types of mosquitoes to live," she says.