A prominent UK health expert has issued a stark warning, asserting that "Disease X," a term coined by the World Health Organization (WHO), could unleash a pandemic more deadly than Covid-19.
Kate Bingham, the former chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, emphasized the severity of the threat, drawing parallels to the catastrophic Spanish Flu of 1919-1920, which claimed over 50 million lives worldwide.
According to WHO, Disease X represents an unknown pathogen, be it a virus, bacterium, or fungus, for which there are no known treatments. Ms Bingham expressed her deep concern, highlighting the potential for a death toll akin to the Spanish Flu in the event of a Disease X outbreak.
She stressed the necessity for global preparedness through mass vaccination campaigns conducted at an unprecedented pace.
Ms Bingham also raised a daunting prospect, revealing that scientists have identified 25 virus families, but there could be over a million undiscovered variants capable of jumping from one species to another, posing a grave threat to human health.
Reflecting on the current pandemic, she noted that while COVID-19 caused substantial casualties, most infected individuals managed to recover.
However, Disease X could possess the infectiousness of measles coupled with the fatality rate of Ebola, leading to widespread devastation.
Ms Bingham shed light on the factors contributing to the rise in pandemics, citing globalization, urbanization, and environmental factors like deforestation, modern agricultural practices, and wetland destruction.
These elements have facilitated the transmission of viruses between species, increasing the likelihood of novel pathogens emerging.
The WHO first introduced the concept of Disease X in 2018, underscoring the potential for a severe international epidemic caused by an as-yet-unknown pathogen.
In May, the organization highlighted Disease X on its website, a chilling reminder of the lurking threat that became painfully apparent with the global spread of COVID-19 just a year later.
