Commentary: The most concerning outbreak right now isn\u2019t Ebola or\nhantavirus<\/p>\n
Despite being the leading cause of vaccine-preventable child deaths\nworldwide, measles doesn\u2019t garner much attention, says Hsu Li Yang of\nthe Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: Two rare and deadly infectious diseases drew significant\ninternational coverage and public attention in May: the Andes hantavirus\non board the cruise ship MV Hondius and the Bundibugyo Ebola virus\noutbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an ongoing outbreak has been linked to the deaths of more\nthan 500 children over the last two months \u2013 but has received far less\nattention.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh is experiencing one of its worst measles outbreaks in\ndecades, with over 78,000 suspected and confirmed cases so far. Most\ndeaths have occurred in unvaccinated young children under 5 years of\nage.<\/p>\n
The contrast is striking. The Andes virus outbreak has so far caused\n13 cases and three deaths. As of May 29, there are over 1,000 cases and\n220 deaths (suspected and confirmed) in the Ebola outbreak in the DRC\nand neighbouring Uganda.<\/p>\n
In an ideal world, attention would reflect the true scale of harm. In\nreality, diseases that are unfamiliar or poorly understood command more\nattention, while routine killers fade into the background.<\/p>\n
WHAT COMMANDS MORE ATTENTION<\/p>\n
This asymmetry is, unfortunately, easy to comprehend. After the\ntrauma of COVID-19, infectious disease threats tend to be seen through\nthe lens of whether they could be the next pandemic.<\/p>\n
The Andes virus outbreak strikes all the right notes for public and\nmedia attention: The virus is rare and deadly, the only known\nrodent-borne hantavirus capable of transmitting between humans. The\noutbreak happened on a polar cruise ship, something many people might\nhave on their \u201cbucket list\u201d.<\/p>\n
Passengers and crew disembarked or were repatriated to multiple\ncountries, including France, Spain and Canada where a few isolating\nindividuals subsequently tested positive for the virus. Two Singapore\nresidents who were passengers tested negative and were quarantined for\n30 days from the date of last exposure as a precaution.<\/p>\n
Ebola (of which the Bundibugyo virus is one species) is equally\ndeadly and, scientifically and operationally, far more challenging to\ndeal with. There are no approved vaccines or treatment for the\nBundibugyo virus, and the outbreak is in a longstanding and volatile\nconflict zone.<\/p>\n
It picked up more attention after May 17, when the World Health\nOrganization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of\nInternational Concern (PHEIC). This formal declaration does not mean\nthere is a global pandemic threat. Rather, it reflects the severe impact\nto affected communities, high regional risk and the need for a\ncoordinated international response.<\/p>\n
But as this is the ninth Ebola outbreak in Africa this decade, seven\nof which have been in the DRC alone, it is perceived as being of lower\nrisk outside those areas.<\/p>\n
LEADING CAUSE OF VACCINE-PREVENTABLE CHILD DEATHS<\/p>\n
Measles, on the other hand, feels much more familiar \u2013 a known\ndisease with a known vaccine.<\/p>\n
So despite being the leading cause of vaccine-preventable child\ndeaths worldwide, measles doesn\u2019t garner much attention.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh\u2019s outbreak has been linked in part to its political\ninstability in the last two years, which disrupted routine vaccination\nactivities, including a quadrennial mass campaign that last occurred in\n2020. But it represents a global trend, a quiet resurgence in most parts\nof the world after the COVID-19 pandemic, including Asia.<\/p>\n
In 2024, 59 countries reported disruptive measles outbreaks, nearly\ntriple the number in 2021. WHO estimated that there were 95,000 measles\ndeaths worldwide in 2024, mostly among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated\nchildren under five years of age, and that more than 30 million children\nremained under-protected.<\/p>\n
Even in Singapore, where our vaccination rates are above the herd\nimmunity threshold of 95 per cent, the number of reported measles cases\nthis year (37 cases as of May 23) is already higher than the 2025 total\n(27 cases) and threefold higher than the whole of 2024 (11 cases). This\nis largely due to imported cases with occasional short-lived local\ntransmission, a reminder that measles resurging elsewhere does not stay\nthere.<\/p>\n
DON\u2019T TREAT PREPAREDNESS SEPARATELY<\/p>\n
This imbalance of attention and disease burden comes with potential\ncosts. One is alert fatigue, where people become less responsive to real\nthreats over time.<\/p>\n
Another is the opportunity for misinformation. The Andes virus\noutbreak has spawned a host of misinformation narratives, most\nparticularly COVID-era claims of vaccine harm and lab\nbio-engineering.<\/p>\n
Attention does not translate linearly into budgets and aid, but it\ncan shape allocation. This creates a potential risk of misallocation of\nfinite resources.<\/p>\n
An OECD analysis of international health aid found that prevention,\npreparedness and response-related funding rose between 2019 and 2022,\neven as funding for basic and primary healthcare fell. While this is\nunderstandable during a pandemic, international aid has come under\nincreasing pressure since. Low- and middle-income countries risk face\nfurther reductions and strain on the systems at the frontline of\npreventing, detecting and containing outbreaks.<\/p>\n
This is not an argument against pandemic preparedness, but against\ntreating such preparedness efforts as a vertical agenda detached from\nand competing against investments in primary care and universal health\ncoverage. Genomic sequencing platforms, surveillance dashboards, and\nemergency operations centres are useful infrastructure, but only when\nbuilt on and integrated with functioning public health, primary care,\nhospitals, supply chains and a trained workforce.<\/p>\n
RESILIENCE IS UNGLAMOROUS<\/p>\n
Steady investment in improving the health of the population in all\nways is unglamorous.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, such long-term investments \u2013 like the One Health\nMasterplan and the establishment<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/commentary-the-most-concerning-outbreak-right-now-isnt-ebola-or-hantavirus-1780358658", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }