The world still hasn’t recovered completely from the dastardly effects of COVID-19 and now another pandemic is on its way again. This pandemic created by Disease X is believed to be more hazardous and at least twenty times deadlier than the coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) says, “Disease X is included to indicate an unknown pathogen that could cause a serious international epidemic.”
The COVID-19 outbreak, which began at the end of 21, claimed millions of lives across the globe and completely disrupted the world- economically and socially. The effects of the pandemic were far-reaching, leading to widespread job losses, economic recessions, and increased poverty rates. even the major and powerful economies struggled to cope with the healthcare crisis, and healthcare systems became overwhelmed, causing delays in non-COVID medical treatments and surgeries.
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Disease X, which WHO claims could be 20 times as disastrous as COVID-19, poses an even greater threat to global health and stability. The outbreak of this disease is a probability and the world needs to prepare itself in advance if it is to survive. Here are some important facts about Disease X:
- The former chair of the United Kingdom’s vaccine taskforce, Kate Bingham warns that Disease X can cause more casualties and have ravaging effects than COVID-19.
- The disease can cause deaths of around 50 million people and more globally. It could have the same devastating effects as the Spanish flu of 1918-1920.
- She also reveals that scientists have been aware of 25 virus families, each of which has thousands of different viruses with the potential to cause a great pandemic. Furthermore, it is anticipated that there may be a million more unknown viruses out there, capable of jumping from species to species and killing millions of people.
- We will be experiencing more of these viral outbreaks in the coming years mainly because of three reasons- globalisation, overpopulation, and habitat destruction. The globe is more interconnected now than ever before; the population is on the rise and people are cramming into cities. We are also cutting down forests and contributing to climate change which facilitates the growth of viruses and how they can jump from species to species.
- She warns that in order to combat virus outbreaks that can lead to pandemics, we need to develop “a collection of different prototype vaccines for every threatening virus family that we know about.” and we need to develop the vaccines and prevention methods before the next pandemic or epidemic can wreak havoc.
In addition, she emphasises the importance of investing in robust surveillance systems to detect and monitor potential virus outbreaks early on. By strengthening global cooperation and sharing information, we can effectively respond to emerging threats and prevent future pandemics from causing widespread devastation. if we can go to the Moon and back, then we can also create a global robust healthcare system to prevent something like the Spanish Flu, Ebola, or COVID-19 from happening again.
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