All About Disease X Debunked: Believed to Be 20 Times Deadlier Than COVID-19

After battling the deadly COVID-19, the world is likely marching towards Disease X, identified by researchers as the current potentially most devastating threat. It is believed that Disease X will be 20 times more fatal and deadlier than COVID-19. A future pandemic is anticipated with the onset of a hypothetical pathogen that can lead to an unforeseen and unknown infectious disease.

Leaders from around the world have expressed concern over Disease X. The recent annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held at Davos also included discussions about Disease X, with world leaders expressing their concern about the deadly virus, which could be 20 times more fatal, raising the mortality rate compared to COVID-19.

What is Disease X?

Disease X was first mentioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), which claimed that it could go global. According to WHO, Disease X can arise from a pathogen or some unknown bug. This case is currently under the purview of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO. The term “Disease X” was coined by WHO in 2018 for the first time.

WHO’s Classification of Disease X

According to WHO, disease X will be similar to other existing hazardous viruses like the Zika virus, Ebola, and COVID-19. Thus, it’s crucial to keep everyone aware and informed about it. WHO mentions that millions of billions of germs exist in our surroundings that we are unaware of. Thus, it lacks resources and also money for proper and intensive research and development.

Although the WHO has not specified anything about the Disease X virus yet, as per experts, it is highly anticipated to be a respiratory virus. Respiratory viruses have high survival rates, making their elimination tough. Currently, major fatal and potentially threatening zoonotic viruses include Zika, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and henipaviral diseases, SARS, MERS, Lassa fever, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and COVID-19.

WHO is gearing up and getting ready to fight the next potentially threatening big disease. The organization is on its way to ensuring that health services do not fail to attend to the people, as they did in 2020.