Johns Hopkins Report: The Characteristics of Pandemic Pathogens

The next pathogen to cause a deadly global pandemic will most likely be a respiratory disease, spread by a virus that is contagious during incubation or when symptoms are only mild, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins' Center for Health Security. To guard against the threat, more needs to be done to improve the surveillance of respiratory-borne RNA viruses. Vaccines against RNA respiratory viruses - including a universal influenza vaccine - should be pursued with increased priority.