COVID, bird flu, mpox – a virologist on why we’re seeing so many viruses emerge

From the widespread outbreak of mpox (formerly called monkeypox) in 2022, to the evolving bird flu situation, to recent cases of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, COVID isn’t dominating the headlines as much as it used to. Instead, we’ve been regularly hearing about outbreaks of newly emerging or re-emerging viruses.

So, is the incidence of virus outbreaks increasing? Or, have we just become better at detecting outbreaks thanks to improved technology developed during the COVID pandemic? The answer may be a bit of both.

There are an estimated 1.67 million viruses yet to be identified that currently infect mammals and birds. Of these, it is thought that up to 827,000 have the potential to infect humans.