What’s Disease X? World leaders to discuss next possible global health threat
Disease X, a hypothetical illness with the potential for 20 times more fatalities than the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the focal point of a panel discussion in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, where international leaders will gather to deliberate on the potential looming threat.
The World Economic Forum is slated to hold a meeting called Preparing for Disease X, with a panel of speakers including the World Health Organization (WHO) and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, who will discuss “what novel efforts are needed” to prepare the health-care system for the potential challenges ahead.
“Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease,” the WHO states on its website. The goal is to be prepared as much as possible for an unknown “Disease X,” it added.
“Disease X is a hypothetical scenario where a very nasty disease, which is more powerful than COVID-19, emerges,” explained Kerry Bowman, a professor of bioethics and global health at the University of Toronto.
“It is the preparation for a hypothetical situation in terms of how the entire world would respond to a rapidly emerging disease threat.”
Although preparation is a great tool, Bowman worries that prevention has not been highly discussed, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. He believes the greatest Disease X threat would be zoonotic, which means a disease that emerges in an animal.
An example of a zoonotic disease is the H1N1 influenza virus, commonly known as swine flu.
“And with the amount of animals that are being decimated around the world and the amount of loss of forest, we’re opening up that threat more and more,” he said. “One of the concerns I have
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