Disease X isn't a specific illness, but rather a placeholder name used by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2017 to represent an unknown pathogen with the potential to cause a major future pandemic. The novel coronavirus also comes under Disease X.
Disease X is a pathogen and a hypothetical scenario for the potential of another future pandemic as it could be an unknown infectious threat. Unlike the Ebola virus which was a known virus, Disease X could be another unknown infectious virus we might not be prepared for.
However, scientists are actively working on preparedness and countermeasures to mitigate its impact. The idea of coining the terminology was to encourage platform technology development such as drug therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests, for rapid adoption and deployment to respond to the could-be epidemics or pandemics in the future.
What Is Disease X?
Disease X is a chilling placeholder, which could be a zoonotic virus, leaping from animals to humans, and packing a deadly punch. The term was coined by the WHO in 2017 alongside known grave viruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Ebola virus. This was done to shortlist pathogens that required top-priority research to equip the world to fight against them.
Scientists believe that open wildlife is a vast source and could be a hotspot for developing new viruses which could have the potential to spill and infect other species and even humans against which we might not be immune.
The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa taking the lives of 11,000 people was a wake-up call and
WHO created an R&D Blueprint to accelerate development to arrange tools for "priority diseases" that include:
- Covid-19,
- Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever,
- Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease,
- Lassa fever,
- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and SARS,
- Nipah and henipaviral diseases,
- Rift Valley fever,
- Zika,
- Disease X
How Is The Research Going?
The COVID-19 vaccine development was commendably done just 326 days later to the release of the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thanks to the part of work done since 2017 for the countermeasures of Disease X.
Along with WHO, groups like the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) are another major contributor, investing heavily in research and development of vaccines and other countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases, including Disease X.
These groups along with many countries are planning to develop a new immunisation with 100 days of a virus that will hold pandemic potential and have a $3.5 billion plan. There are many other efforts taken such as:
- The World Bank approved a new fund for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response while International Health regulations were updated, developing a new global agreement to protect the world from future emergencies. There has also been an establishment of a global centre for pandemic therapeutics.
- WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence is now aiming to speed up access to key data, and to develop analytical tools and predictive models for the early detection of an infectional threat.
- Initiatives like the Global Virome Project are working to identify and characterize potential zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential.
- Project NextGen, a US government initiative of $5 billion is launched to develop next-generation treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.
- A funding of $262.5 million for a national network in the US for detecting and responding efficiently to public health emergencies.
While there is no definitive answer to how "successful" the research on Disease X is, the ongoing efforts and progress made in various areas provide a positive outlook for our preparedness against future pandemics.
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