Coronavirus Isn’t the Only Virus Spreading

Other infectious diseases may surge as vaccination campaigns hit pause

As the Covid-19 pandemic grinds the world to a halt, it may be easy to forget the other dangerous infectious diseases that plague humans across the globe. But today, we’re reminded that they haven’t gone anywhere.

In a media briefing on Friday, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus announced a new case of Ebola in Congo. The agency was just two days away from declaring the end of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, which began in 2018. And just two weeks ago, Reuters reported that measles was also surging through Congo, where it has been spreading since January 2019.

The resurgence of established infectious diseases like Ebola and measles is likely to intensify as the pandemic wears on. Not only are health resources being diverted to dealing with Covid-19, but routine vaccinations for deadly, vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, meningitis, cholera, and yellow fever have also stopped. Vaccination campaigns are crucial for containing outbreaks of these diseases, especially in developing countries.

Today in Science Magazine, journalist Leslie Roberts described what the head of the Vaccine Alliance called “A devil’s choice:” In the past month, the World Health Organization had to choose whether to protect communities and frontline health care workers from becoming infected or to continue mass vaccination…