{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T11:14:34Z","timestamp":1788520474574,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":73,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic exposed profound weaknesses in global infectious disease surveillance yet, in its aftermath, pandemic-prone threats have intensified rather than receded. This narrative review synthesizes contemporary evidence on three converging drivers of pandemic risk zoonotic emergence, antimicrobial resistance, and climate-sensitive disease expansion and examines how structural failures in surveillance and global health governance amplify their impact. Drawing on recent epidemiological analyses, policy reports, and One Health evaluations, the review maps post-COVID surges in zoonotic outbreaks, drug-resistant infections, and vector and water-borne diseases, and links these trends to fragmented laboratory networks, inequitable genomic capacity, and weak integration across human, animal, and environmental systems. It further interrogates the geopolitical and socioeconomic determinants of vulnerability, including conflict-related surveillance collapse, vaccine inequity, and the political economy of pandemic financing. Emerging digital tools from AI-enabled forecasting to wastewater and social media surveillance are assessed not only for their technical promise but also for risks related to data bias, extractives, and governance gaps. The review argues that without redistributive investment in One Health integration, regional genomic platforms, community-based surveillance, and enforceable IHR-based accountability, the world will continue to detect converging threats late and respond inequitably, leaving pandemic preparedness structurally fragile in the post-COVID era.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1916865","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T10:19:51Z","timestamp":1788517191000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Converging infectious disease threats in the post-COVID era: surveillance fragility, pandemic risk, and global preparedness"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yusuf Hared","family":"Abdi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hormuud University","place":["Mogadishu, Somalia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zakaria Ibrahim","family":"Issack","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Emergency, One Health Unit, Ministry of Health and Human Services","place":["Mogadishu, Somalia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e35154","DOI":"10.1016\/J.HELIYON.2024.E35154","article-title":"Global impact of COVID-19 on food safety and environmental sustainability: pathways to face the pandemic crisis","volume":"10","author":"Maqbool","year":"2024","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e020708","DOI":"10.1136\/BMJGH-2025-020708","article-title":"Global trends of pandemic-prone and epidemic-prone disease outbreaks in 2024","volume":"11","author":"Torres Mungu\u00eda","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"},{"key":"ref4","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1038\/s41541-023-00773-0","article-title":"Outlook of pandemic preparedness in a post-COVID-19 world","volume":"8","author":"Williams","year":"2023","journal-title":"NPJ Vaccines"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.7189\/JOGH.15.04151","article-title":"Global distribution and health impact of infectious disease outbreaks, 1996\u20132023: a worldwide retrospective analysis of World Health Organization emergency event reports","volume":"15","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Glob Health"},{"key":"ref7","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref8","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.3390\/ZOONOTICDIS5040032","article-title":"Drivers and consequences of viral zoonoses: public health and economic perspectives","volume":"5","author":"Banik","year":"2025","journal-title":"Zoonotic Dis"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3745","DOI":"10.14202\/VETWORLD.2025.3745-3760","article-title":"Genomic and evolutionary characterization of newly emerged highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 clade (2023\u20132025)","volume":"18","author":"Shosha","year":"2025","journal-title":"Vet World"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"522","DOI":"10.15585\/MMWR.MM7433A2","article-title":"Highly pathogenic avian influenza a(H5N1) virus infection in a child with no known exposure\u2014San Francisco, California, December 2024\u2013January 2025","volume":"74","author":"Tobolowsky","year":"2025","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e9834","DOI":"10.2903\/J.EFSA.2025.9834","article-title":"Avian influenza overview September\u2013November 2025","volume":"23","author":"Buczkowski","year":"2025","journal-title":"EFSA J"},{"key":"ref13","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref14","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e70039","DOI":"10.1111\/GCB.70039","article-title":"Zoonotic host richness in the global wildland\u2013urban interface","volume":"31","author":"Simkin","year":"2025","journal-title":"Glob Chang Biol"},{"key":"ref16","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.15406\/JBMOA.2025.13.00401","article-title":"The mounting hazard of drug-resistant infections, its impact and global action","volume":"13","author":"Singh","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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