It's a bleak thought the next pandemic is a question of when, not if.

The World Health Organization and the leaders of 23 countries – including Germany, France and the UK – are calling for an international treaty to ensure the next global health emergency is better managed.

The WHO has also released its long-awaited investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The report, compiled by 17 Chinese and 17 international experts, said the virus probably spread from bats to humans via another animal.

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"We know most of the infections that we worry about and have done over the years – be it influenza, Ebola or even HIV, let alone SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] – come from animals", says Professor Lawrence Young, virologist at Warwick Medical School.

"My concern is we're not doing enough to think about that relationship between humans and animals. We're not doing enough to make sure that people like me who work on human viruses are working more closely with folks who work on viruses in animals," he adds.

The United Nations and WWF International have warned the spread of infections from non-human animals to humans, often called zoonotic diseases, is being fueled by humanity's destruction of biodiversity and the illegal wildlife trade.

'Extremely unlikely'

The WHO report also said it was "extremely unlikely" the pandemic originated from a laboratory, a theory which was promoted by the former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration also alleged the WHO wasn't critical enough of Beijing's handling of the outbreak. As a result, the WHO investigation into the origins of the pandemic has become extremely political.

"There is some data within the document suggesting that it's possible that the virus was around earlier than December 2019 and possibly could have been spreading much earlier into other parts of the world, including Italy," according to Young. 

"I think that needs to be investigated in a bit more detail."