![Bird flu shows world not ready for future pandemics: report](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/a6/3e/db/Bird-flu-shows-world-not-ready-for--708701.jpg)
-
Jamaica's De Cordova-Reid joins Leicester from Fulham
-
Wolves' Kilman reunites with Lopetegui at West Ham
-
Schmidt reign off to winning start as Australia beat Wales 25-16
-
Russian wrestlers reject Olympics invitation
-
Raducanu rediscovers Wimbledon 'fun' factor after turbulent spell
-
Winning all that matters at Euro 2024 for Mbappe's minimalist France
-
Eight dead, two million affected by Bangladesh floods
-
Robertson pleased to 'find a way' past England in tough Test baptism
-
Martin sets lap record to secure German MotoGP pole
-
'Shattered' Germany set sights on World Cup after Euros exit
-
Olympic hope Pedersen pulls out of Tour de France
-
Djokovic eyes sweet 16 at Wimbledon as Swiatek takes on 'gangster'
-
End beckons again for Ronaldo after Portugal Euros KO
-
New Zealand edge England 16-15 in tense, brutal first Test
-
Turkey take on Dutch in politically charged Euros quarter-final, England face Swiss
-
Calling for better ties with West, Iran reformist wins presidency
-
Cybercrime groups restructuring after major takedowns: experts
-
Activists hail Sierra Leone child marriage ban, urge action on FGM
-
Marsch relishing Canada's semi clash with Argentina
-
Canada stun Venezuela on penalties to reach Copa semis
-
Iran reformist Pezeshkian holds early lead in runoff vote
-
Swiatek faces 'gangster' threat, Djokovic feels need for Wimbledon speed
-
France holds its breath ahead of uncertain vote
-
Starmer begins UK 'rebuild' after landslide election win
-
Paris's Moulin Rouge inaugurates new windmill sails ahead of Olympics
-
Pan, Rai share halfway lead in PGA John Deere Classic
-
'I was feeling terrible' in debate, Biden says in TV interview
-
France coach Deschamps savours ending penalty hoodoo, defends Mbappe
-
Thompson bids farewell to Warriors after exit
-
Portugal exit Euros with pride, will return stronger: Martinez
-
UK's new PM Starmer speaks to world leaders, names top team
-
Spain and France to face off in Euros last four, Turkey lament 'unfair' Demiral ban
-
Israel says negotiators to hold fresh Gaza truce talks next week
-
France beat Portugal on penalties to reach Euro 2024 semi-finals
-
Endrick to start for Brazil in Uruguay Copa clash: Dorival
-
Heartbreak for Germany fans after dramatic Euros exit
-
Beryl heads for Texas after causing damage, no deaths in Mexico
-
Nagelsmann laments late penalty decision as hosts Germany exit Euros
-
Biden declares he's all in ahead of high-risk TV interview
-
Spain team 'is a winning horse', says De la Fuente
-
Bows at the ready, Chad villagers battle kidnappings
-
Alcaraz mimics Bellingham goal celebration after Wimbledon win
-
Olmo hopes Pedri can make speedy return for Euros semi-finalists Spain
-
Retiring Kroos hopeful despite Germany's 'bitter' Euros exit
-
Southgate turns on English 'entitlement' over claims of easy Euros draw
-
Merino extra-time goal sends Spain past Germany to Euro semis
-
Koeman demands Dutch silence fervent Turkish fans at Euros
-
Brad Pitt at Silverstone for filming of F1 movie
-
Raducanu storms into Wimbledon last 16
-
California fires spread in July 4 weekend heatwave
![Bird flu shows world not ready for future pandemics: report](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/a6/3e/db/Bird-flu-shows-world-not-ready-for--708701.jpg)
Bird flu shows world not ready for future pandemics: report
Surging cases of bird flu among mammals, including US cattle, offer a stark warning that the world is not ready to fend off future pandemics, a report said on Tuesday, urging leaders to act quickly.
More than four years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, politicians are "gambling through neglect" by not putting enough money or effort into avoiding a repeat of the disaster, the report said.
The bird flu H5N1 has been increasingly jumping over to mammals, including cattle in farms across the United States as well as a few humans, prompting fears the virus could spark a future pandemic.
"If H5N1 began to spread from person to person, the world would likely again be overwhelmed," the report's co-author and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark told a press conference.
It could even be "more disastrous, potentially, than Covid", said Clark.
"We just aren't equipped enough to stop outbreaks before they spread further," she said, also pointing to a deadlier strain of mpox particularly affecting children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While wealthy countries have vaccines that could fight this mpox outbreak, they have not been made available to the central African country, she said.
Now two people have died from the mpox strain in South Africa, illustrating how neglect can lead to such pathogens spreading, she said.
The report was led by Clark and Liberian ex-president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who previously served as co-chairs of an independent panel advising the World Health Organization on pandemic preparedness.
Despite the advice from the panel in 2021, "the funds now available pale in comparison to the needs, and high-income countries are holding on too tightly to traditional charity-based approaches to equity," Clark said.
The report pointed out that WHO members have still not sealed a much-discussed pandemic agreement, mainly due to differences between well-off nations and those who felt cut adrift during the Covid crisis.
The report called for governments and international organisations to agree to a new pandemic accord by December, as well as funding more efforts to boost vaccine production, bolstering WHO's power and boosting national efforts to fight off viruses.
To emphasise the potential threat, the report pointed to modelling research suggesting there is a one-in-two chance the world will suffer a pandemic of a similar size to Covid in the next 25 years.
A.F.Rosado--PC