How dangerous is Disease X?

The next pandemic could be 20 times deadlier than Coronavirus, says a UK health expert

The new pandemic, dubbed Disease X by the World Health Organisation (WHO), might already be on its way and could take 50 million lives. As per the Daily Mail report, scientists have identified 25 virus families containing thousands of individual viruses, but still, there are millions of other viruses yet to be discovered.

So, What is Disease X?

According to the World Health Organisation, Disease X could be caused by a pathogen X. It can be a virus, a bacterium or a fungus with a high infectious and fatality rate and without any known treatments. WHO also believes that It could be related to a zoonotic disease that jumps to humans and further mutates severely.
The expert further added that more and more pandemics are a result of increased connectivity through globalisation and congested cities. The increasing rate of deforestation, modern agriculture methods and the destruction of wetlands further prompt the pathogens to jump from one species to the next.

Disease X is a placeholder name that was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2018. Since then we have already seen a global pandemic.

Researchers are already working on finding a potential vaccine as a precaution. Kate Bingham, managing partner at SV Health Investors added that another mass vaccination drive and contaminants could very well be waiting in the near future. She also said that “Disease X could be as infectious as measles with a fatality rate of 67%. She believes that it could already be replicating somewhere in the world.”

The expert concluded that a One Health approach which aims at bridging institutional gaps and emphasizing mitigation strategies for emerging pathogens should be developed to prevent a global catastrophe.

Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.

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