Global Health Report Warns Mpox, Ebola and Dengue Signal a Pandemic Preparedness Crisis

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) has released a report titled "Hiding in Plain Sight: Mpox and the Cost of Neglecting Known Threats," arguing that neglecting known biological threats has edged the world closer to another global health emergency.

Mpox has spread to more than 82 countries — 50 years after the disease was first identified in humans in West Africa. The first nine months of 2026 recorded more than 14,000 confirmed cases and 50 deaths, while an ambitious target to vaccinate 6.4 million people across Africa has been missed by a wide margin. Global health security expert Helen Clark, who sits on the IPPPR and has held senior UN roles, said the world must stop "ignoring sporadic diseases with epidemic potential."

In Central Africa, the DR Congo Ebola outbreak stood at 5,340 deaths and 10,351 confirmed cases as of 29 October. The virus kills more than half of those it infects. A lack of sustained monitoring since the 2014 West Africa outbreak has allowed it to mutate, triggering WHO-declared Public Health Emergencies of International Concern in both 2019 and 2026. Europe has also registered new threats, including the first human death from Shamonda — a virus normally found in livestock — and a case of Russian plague contracted by a Siberian laboratory technician.

Bangladesh's dengue crisis has killed 418 people and caused more than 133,000 hospital admissions as of 30 October, with October's 173 deaths making it the deadliest month yet. Measles has killed more than 1,200 people in the country. The WHO estimates the world has been in a state of health emergency for roughly 70 per cent of the time since Covid-19 was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020.