Disease X being discussed at the WEF refers to the big unknown disease that’s been on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Blueprint list since 2018. It comes with the warning that the unknown pathogen could cause a serious global pandemic in the future.

The most recent conversation about Disease X described it as being a potential threat following the COVID-19 pandemic. It focused on being prepared to avert a similar disaster that followed COVID-19.

What is Disease X?

The term Disease X in theory “represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease”.

Although it does not exist yet, the term was coined for whatever disease may become a pandemic in the future.

Disease X, was in 2022, added to WHO’s updated list of priority diseases and pathogens targeted for research and development.

It is only a theoretical framework to guide preparedness efforts and research initiatives.

The term was coined in 2018 making COVID-19 the first Disease X. However, there could be another in the future.

Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, stressed the importance of preparation for another global health pandemic after COVID-19 saying, “There are things that are unknown that may happen, and anything happening is a matter of when, not if, so we need to have a placeholder for that, for the diseases we don’t know. We lost many people [during COVID] because we couldn’t manage them. They could have been saved, but there was no space. There was not enough oxygen. So how can you have a system that can expand when the need comes?”

“The pandemic agreement can bring all the experience, all the challenges that we have faced and all the solutions into one,” Ghebreyesus said. “That agreement can help us to prepare for the future in a better way This is a common global interest, and very narrow national interests should not come into the way.” Here we explain what Disease X is and how we may best prepare for another global pandemic.

What could cause Disease X?

Since Disease X is only a hypothetical term, no definite causative factor can be identified. It is, however, suspected that since it may come from the family of a large group of viruses, it may share similar methods of infection and spread.

How can Disease X be stopped in the future?

The COVID-19 pandemic has given an insight into dealing with health emergencies on such a large scale, and Disease X may not be any different. The coronavirus outbreak has accelerated the development of novel vaccines – including those that can be quickly reused and updated to target new pathogens.

How can Disease X be prevented?

The WHO has called on countries to develop more accurate early warning systems for new diseases – and stressed how health services need to become more resilient to unexpected surges in demand. Tedros said: “When hospitals were stretched beyond their capacity [with Covid], we lost many people because we could not manage them. There was not enough space, there was not enough oxygen.”

To prevent the same thing from happening when Disease X strikes, the WHO chief says health services must be able to expand their capacity quickly – and on demand.

Vanguard