- The WHO has stressed the importance of being ready for a potential new pandemic known as “Disease X”.
- Disease X has been identified by the WHO as the possible source of a severe global epidemic.
- It is classified among diseases with extensive deaths including COVID-19, Ebola, Lassa fever, MERS, Nipah, and Zika.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed the importance of being ready for a potential new pandemic known as “Disease X” on a worldwide scale.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO, encouraged nations to ratify a “pandemic treaty” to combat the fatal illness, which may be 20 times more lethal than COVID-19. Ghebreyesus believed that by May, a pandemic agreement would be reached to deal with this “common enemy.”
Disease X
A possible undiscovered virus known as Disease X has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the possible source of a severe global epidemic. There may be no known cure for this virus, which could be a novel agent, virus, bacterium, or fungus.
It is classified by the WHO among diseases that have already resulted in extensive deaths during epidemics, including COVID-19, Ebola, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Nipah, and Zika.
The term “epidemic potential” was first used by the WHO in 2018 to refer to the next unidentified disease. Disease X is mentioned in a WHO report dated November 2022 as a potential infection that could trigger a severe global epidemic. The pathogen is unknown.
Although there are many possible diseases in the globe, there are not enough resources available for disease research and development (R&D). The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun taking steps to get ready for another pandemic, such as setting up a pandemic fund and a technology transfer center in South Africa.
