“WHO Warns of Potential Pandemic: The Emergence of ‘Disease X'”

Jakarta –

The World Health Organization (WHO) is now warning of the emergence of ‘Disease X’, namely a disease that is not yet known, but has the potential to become a pandemic. Some experts even highlight that this disease has the potential to be more fatal than COVID-19.

Some public health experts believe that disease X will be zoonotic. This means that the disease originates from wild or domestic animals, which then spreads to humans. Looking at the diseases that currently exist, Ebola, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 are zoonotic outbreaks.

However, there are also those who say, there is a possibility that this disease X will later come from other types of diseases or bioterrorism. This means that the disease is the result of engineering which then spreads widely and becomes a pandemic.

“Release of such pathogens, whether through laboratory accidents or as acts of bioterrorism, can also catalyze Disease X and has been deemed a global catastrophic risk,” said the authors of a 2021 article in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Apart from that there are also sources who suspect, disease X is a ‘zombie’ virus that has been locked in permafrost or frozen landscapes for centuries. But due to climate change, the landscape is melting and releasing viruses that then spread.

WHO has also set a list of priority diseases to highlight, which have the potential to become a pandemic in the future. These include Marburg virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever, Nipah disease and henipavirus, Rift Valley fever and Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Watch Video “WHO warns about a number of diseases that can trigger new pandemics“

(vyp/vyp)