Another pandemic like COVID-19 is all but guaranteed, according to public health experts. Whether it happens next year or a decade from now, these massive public health emergencies naturally happen on a regular basis, especially as our world gets hotter from climate change and more viruses and other pathogens spill over from our diminishing wilderness.
The World Health Organization (WHO) keeps track of the bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites that are most likely to cause widespread chaos and recently updated its running tally of the world's most threatening pathogens. They did this with the help of over 200 scientists from more than 50 countries who investigated the data of more than 1,600 viruses and bacteria. And, as it turns out, there are more bugs out there worth worrying about than previously reported.
