The World Health Organization, WHO, has established CoViNet, a new network dedicated to identifying, monitoring, and evaluating SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and emerging coronaviruses that pose serious public health risks.
The programme builds on the WHO COVID-19 reference laboratory network, which was established in January 2020, in the early stages of the pandemic. Originally, the network’s main goal was to provide confirmatory testing to countries that could not test SARS-CoV-2, including new variants. Over time, the requirements for SARS-CoV-2 have changed.
According to WHO, CoViNet, which has reportedly “enhanced epidemiological and laboratory capacities,” will focus on tracking the virus’s evolution and the spread of variants and evaluating how these variants affect public health.
The network brings together experts in animal health and environmental surveillance, other existing coronaviruses, and the identification of novel coronaviruses that could negatively affect human health.
The network will emphasize the importance of implementing a “OneHealth” strategy, the agency stated in a press release.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a multi-species health approach. The virus most likely originated in a bat and was transmitted to humans via infected mammals kept and processed in unsanitary conditions at a market in Wuhan, China.
Finally, CoViNet will help to shape WHO policies on public health and medical interventions.
The data collected by CoViNet will be used to inform decisions made by WHO’s Technical Advisory Groups on Viral Evolution and Vaccine Composition, among others. This will help ensure that global health strategies and tools are based on the most recent scientific insights.
The Acting Director of WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, said: “Coronaviruses have time and again demonstrated their epidemic and pandemic risk. We thank our partners from around the world who are working to better understand high-threat coronaviruses like SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 and to detect novel coronaviruses.
This new global network for coronaviruses will ensure timely detection, monitoring, and assessment of coronaviruses of public health importance.”
So far, 36 laboratories from 21 countries are involved in the network – from FIOCRUZ in Brazil to Geneva University Hospitals, Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, and Pakistan’s National Institute of Health.
Representatives from the labs met last week in Geneva to finalize an action plan for the next 12 months.
WHO has reported 6,932,591 coronavirus deaths and 766,440,796 cases since the pandemic began – although the real number of deaths worldwide is presumed to have been far higher.
The pandemic was declared over last year, while the number of people dying from the disease has declined since the Omicron variant first detected in the fall of 2021 in southern Africa became dominant. But WHO has continued to encourage countries to report weekly aggregate indicators of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and variant surveillance data, warning that new variants of the virus, or other related emerging viruses could still pose a global health risk.
