The US government adviser fears that the next pandemic could be more deadly.

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a new new type of Coronavirus could emerge soon that would be more infectious with higher mortality rate.

Fauci spoke with ZEIT on the possibility of a new type of virus emerging in our culture, particularly at a time when cases are declining across the country.

“That would be terrible! And of course, it is possible,” said Fauci in an interview with ZEIT.

As long as there are viruses freely circulating in society, moving from person to person, such viruses will have plenty of opportunities to change due to their constant replication.

“The first Sars virus caused ten percent mortality in 2003, and the Mers virus ten years later a mortality rate of 25 to 35 percent. A virus that would be as easily transmitted as the current Sars-CoV-2, combined with the mortality of these previous coronaviruses – that would be a catastrophe for humanity.”

“It would be naive to believe that we will be spared another virus,” said Fauci. 

He called for global efforts; to advance the development of universal vaccines against coronavirus. No country can regulate this alone. 

According to him, we are experiencing a pandemic like we haven’t seen for over 100 years.

Fauci was cautious about an early end to the current pandemic. He thinks it is possible to contain it by spring. 

“But I can’t imagine we can eradicate the disease until next summer.”

The nightmare is still going on. The US counts around 740,000 deaths, worldwide there are 4.9 million dead and hundreds of millions infected.

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: Fauci warns of a new type of virus scarier than COVID