WHO and Switzerland launch global BioHub for pathogen storage, sharing and analysis was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Monday, 24 May 2021 at 09:22 UTC. The event is classified as a epidemic incident with a severity rating of Severe, and was detected through the World Health Organization (WHO).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the first WHO BioHub Facility as part of the WHO BioHub System, which was announced in November 2020. This facility will enhance the rapid sharing of viruses and other pathogens between laboratories and partners globally. Based in Spiez, Switzerland, the facility will serve as a centre for the safe receipt, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, in order to inform risk assessments, and sustain global preparedness against these pathogens. “Close international collaboration to ensure the timely sharing of epidemiological and clinical data as well as biological materials is of utmost importance. Switzerland supports the WHO BioHub initiative in its initial phase by providing the necessary infrastructure of a
Where this happened
The incident is located in Switzerland (Europe), whose capital is Bern. Historically, Switzerland is most affected by avalanches, landslides and floods. You can follow every incident recorded in this country, updated live, on the Switzerland incident tracker.
Approximate coordinates of the reported event are 46.800°, 8.200°. The marker on the map above shows this position; for news-derived reports the location reflects the place named in media coverage and may represent a district or city rather than an exact site.
Understanding epidemic events
Disease outbreaks including cholera, dengue, measles, Ebola and influenza. Outbreak trajectories depend on transmission route, population immunity and the speed of detection. Early case-finding, clean water and vaccination coverage change outcomes far more than late-stage restrictions.
How severity is rated
Global Incident Tracker rates every event on a four-step scale — Minor, Moderate, Severe and Extreme — derived from the source signal: earthquake magnitude, official GDACS alert colour, or the volume of independent media reporting for news-derived incidents. This event is currently rated Severe. Ratings can change as more information becomes available, and a rating is a monitoring signal rather than an official government assessment.
Safety guidance for epidemic situations
- Follow official case definitions and testing guidance rather than social-media claims.
- Prioritise clean water, hand hygiene and safe food handling during any outbreak.
- Keep routine vaccinations up to date; they carry most of the protective effect.
- Seek care early if you belong to a high-risk group.
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Data and verification
This record was generated automatically from the World Health Organization (WHO) and de-duplicated against our archive. Early reports for any incident can be revised: locations get refined, magnitudes are recalculated and impact figures change as assessments arrive. We deliberately do not publish casualty numbers unless an official source states them. The original source report is linked at the top of this page.
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Timeline and sources
Officially recorded
An official record exists from World Health Organization. That confirms the event was recorded; figures quoted from news reports are not confirmed by it.
How statuses are decided · the number of reports is never treated as confirmation.
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· received · event time 24 May 2021, 09:22 UTCFirst report Humanitarian agency report
First recorded from World Health Organization.
Times are when this site received each report, in UTC; the event time is shown where the source gave one. Copies of one syndicated story count as one report.
Conditions at the time
8.8 mm of rain fell that day, and the temperature peaked at 7°C.
Weather reanalysis for this location and date via Open-Meteo.