A UK health specialist told the Daily Mail that Disease X might trigger a more deadly pandemic than Covid-19 and could kill at least 50 million people. Until now, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Disease X represented an epidemic that might be brought on by a bacterium that doesn’t now cause any human diseases.
According to Kate Bingham, who oversaw the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce from May 2020 to December 2021, the new virus may have effects akin to the fatal Spanish Flu of 1919–1920.
Bingham said, “Let me put it this way: the 1918–19 flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, twice as many as were killed in the First World War. Today, we could expect a similar death toll from one of the many existing viruses.”
She continued by saying that to neutralize the threat posed by Disease X; the globe must get ready for widespread vaccination campaigns and provide dosages quickly. Bingham said that some viruses replicate and change more than all other life types.
“Not all of them pose a threat to humans, of course, but plenty do,” she told the Daily Mail.
According to Bingham, a fatal pandemic might arise from any of the 25 virus families scientists have identified. Additionally, more than a million undiscovered varieties might be capable of switching between different species.
“The vast majority of people infected with Covid-19 have managed to recover,” Bingham said. “Imagine Disease X being as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola, which is 67 percent. Somewhere in the world, it’s replicating, and sooner or later, someone will start feeling ill.”
WHO claims that “Disease X indicates the knowledge that a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease could be the source of a severe global epidemic. The R&D Blueprint clarifies that it aims to facilitate early, cross-cutting R&D readiness pertinent for an unidentified “Disease X.” This list was initially released in 2017, and the prioritization process was completed in 2018.
