The coronavirus pandemic is, we are told, a once-in-a-century plague that is the worst outbreak of its kind in living memory.

But that doesn't mean we can stop worrying about deadly diseases with the potential to rapidly spread across borders. Epidemiologists have already identified several contenders for the next global medical emergency.

One fungal infection, Candida auris , has been described as "almost the perfect pathogen" by Johanna Rhodes, a genomic epidemiologist at Imperial College London.

First identified in 2009, where it was seen infecting the ear canal of a Japanese woman, the drug-resistant organism was spotted in patients across the globe.

The first case in Europe was diagnosed at London's Royal Brompton Hospital in June 2016. Dr Rhodes, who was one of the specialists called in to help eradicate the Royal Brompton outbreak, says the fungus is almost impossible to kill off with currently-available antifungal drugs.

"One of the things that makes Candida auris so scary is the fact it can linger on inanimate surfaces for long periods and withstand whatever you throw at it," she told New Scientist. Outbreaks in hospitals are very hard to contain once the fungus has taken a hold.

An outbreak in 2018 at a Spanish hospital was even more severe. A total of 372 people were infected and 85 developed the deadly blood-borne fungal infection. Of those, 41% died within a month.