Pandemic PACT’s WHO Priority Pathogens Update Now Completed
August 2025
The Pandemic PACT grant funding tracker has now been fully updated to include all high-priority pathogens and pathogen families identified by the WHO’s R&D Blueprint for Epidemics. This expansion to include 19 additional pathogens reflects Pandemic PACT programme’s commitment to support enhanced global research funding coordination for emerging infectious disease threats, through transparency in research funding flows.
The update follows the 2024 Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the WHO called for a broader, forward-looking approach to pandemic preparedness in its report ‘Scientific Framework For Epidemic And Pandemic Research Preparedness’. By aligning with WHO’s latest framework, the Pandemic PACT programme aims to support the advance the global research approach outlined in that report.
Since 2024, research funding data for additional high-priority pathogens and pathogen families has been added to the Pandemic PACT web platform on a rolling basis. The funding tracker now includes research grants focussing on all the following pathogens and pathogen families:
- Arenaviridae: Mammarenavirus lassaense, Mammarenavirus juninense, Mammarenavirus lujoense
- Coronaviridae: SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV
- Filoviridae: Orthoebolavirus zairense, Orthoebolavirus sudanense, Orthomarburgvirus marburgense
- Flaviviridae: Orthoflavivirus zikaense, Orthoflavivirus encephalitidis, Orthoflavivirus nilense, Orthoflavivirus denguei, Orthoflavivirus flavi
- Paramyxoviridae: Henipavirus nipahense, Henipavirus hendraense
- Orthomyxoviridae: Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H1, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H2, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H3, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H5, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H6, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H7, Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae H10
- Poxviridae: Orthopoxvirus vaccinia, Orthopoxvirus variola, Orthopoxvirus monkeypox
- Yersiniaceae: Yersinia pestis
- Phenuiviridae: Phlebovirus riftense, Bandavirus dabieense
- Nairoviridae: Orthonairovirus haemorrhagiae
- Togaviridae: Alphavirus chikungunya, Alphavirus venezuelan
- Vibrionaceae: Vibrio cholerae serogroup 0139
- Enterobacteriaceae: Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, Salmonella enterica non typhoidal serovars, Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Hantaviridae: Orthohantavirus sinnombreense, Orthohantavirus hantanense
- Unknown pathogen family: Pathogen X
Please note: the pathogens in bold are the additional high-priority pathogens included in the most recent update. This newly integrated data is now live on the Pandemic PACT website and will continue to be updated regularly.
By incorporating this updated high-priority pathogen list, Pandemic PACT also aims to support the WHO-led Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORCs) initiative. Since the CORCs launched in 2024, they have worked with GloPID-R and other stakeholders to enhance global efforts in pandemic preparedness and response, focussing on a coordinated research approach for pathogen families. By broadening the scope of the pathogen families included in its funding tracker, Pandemic PACT provides the CORCs and other users with an improved evidence base to monitor research activity and identify funding gaps.