Disease X: The unknown threat that can trigger the 'next pandemic'

While the coronavirus pandemic continues to haunt humans, there's an "unknown" threat lurking deep in the forests, miles away from a city, in some corner of the world, waiting to trigger the "next pandemic". It's "Disease X" and  everything about it is unknown. It is not technically a "disease" but is an area of research for scientists studying possibilities of the next pandemic. Let us dig deeper into this mysterious disease.

What is Disease X?

Disease X is not a new disease. It is a potential disease that is yet to be discovered. Disease X is a placeholder name adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2018.

It is not a newly discovered threat, but a hypothetical disease, which could emerge in the future and cause an outbreak/epidemic/pandemic.

Why are we discussing this unknown disease?

It is because of what the name "Disease X" represents: "the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by an [unknown, hypothetical] pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease", the WHO explains.

Why is Disease X in news?

A woman, in a remote town of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recently showed symptoms of hemorrhagic fever. She was tested for several diseases -- including Ebola -- but all the test reports came back negative. Scientists fear that this could be a symptom of a potentially new and fatal virus.

Could be more fatal than Ebola and Covid-19

This new infection could be more fatal than Ebola and Covid-19, health experts express concern.

The need for Disease X

Highlighting the need for "Disease X" in the priority list, John-Arne Rottingen, chief executive of the Research Council of Norway and a scientific adviser to the WHO committee, said, "As the ecosystem and human habitats change there is always the risk of disease jumping from animals to humans...It's a natural process and it is vital that we are aware and prepared. It is probably the greatest risk."
Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has previously said, "As experience has taught us more often than not the thing that is going to hit us is something that we did not anticipate...Just the way we didn't anticipate Zika, we didn't think there would be an Ebola that would hit cities."

History of Disease X

To stop outbreaks from turning into public health emergencies, the WHO in May 2015 was asked to create an "R&D Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics". This move was considered as it was expected to reduce the time lag between the identification of viral infections and the approval of vaccines/treatments. A group of global experts -- the "R&D Blueprint Scientific Advisory Group" -- was then formed by the WHO to draft a shortlist of less than ten "blueprint priority diseases".

It was in February 2018 that Disease X was added to the shortlist as a placeholder as a representation for a "knowable unknown" pathogen -- that has the potential to cause a future epidemic.

Strategies to fight future pandemics

According to Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum (Congolese microbiologist), if this virus is detected early -- like in my institution here -- there will be an opportunity for Europe [and the rest of the world] to develop new strategies to fight these new pathogens. Even the WHO believes, "The best time to prevent the next pandemic is now."