What is Disease X? The Reality

 What the world is more prone to epidemics?

With more frequent travel, globalization, globalized trade and greater interconnectedness between countries, infectious disease outbreaks of international concern are becoming inevitable, and remain unpredictable. To save lives, The World Health Organization (WHO) is spearheading a global coalition to avert full-blown epidemics by making Research and Development (R&D) outbreak-ready.

Watch our video here on Disease X.

Take the case of Covid 19 pandemic that caused death of millions of people worldwide.

What is Blueprint list of Priority Diseases?

In 2018, WHO published a "Blueprint list of priority diseases” than can cause the next lethal pandemic as a measure to understand these deadly infectious agents better thus preparing early or Research and Development outbreak-ready, before the onset of next lethal pandemic. The R&D Blueprint was born as a result of the Ebola emergency in West Africa which began in March 2014.

The current list includes

• COVID-19,
• Crimean-Cong haemorrhagic fever,
• Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease,
• Lassa fever,
• Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),
• Nipah and henipaviral diseases,
• Rift Valley fever,
• Zika and
• Disease X.

All the diseases are well known except disease X.

What is disease X?

The WHO declared “Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease.”  Disease X is included to indicate an unknown pathogen that could cause a serious international epidemic. The R&D Blueprint explicitly seeks to enable early cross-cutting R&D preparedness that is also relevant for an unknown “Disease X”. This is basically an action to prevent and prepare better for a future epidemic outbreak. Scientists suggest that pathogen is expected to be a zoonosis, most likely an RNA virus with a capacity of sustained transmission.

“Targeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response. Without significant R&D investments prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not have been possible to have safe and effective vaccines developed in record time,” said Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme.

This “Blueprint list of Priority Diseases” guides Scientists to focus priority pathogens and virus families for research and development for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response. This list of priority pathogens has become a reference point for the research community on where to focus energies to manage the next threat.

The WHO's R and D Blueprint is a global strategy and preparedness plan that allows the rapid activation of research and development activities during epidemics. It is meant to fast-track the availability of effective tests, vaccines and medicines that can be used to save lives and avert large-scale crises associated with an epidemic outbreak.

As the old saying goes "prevention is better than cure".

Reference:https://www.who.int/news/item/21-11-2022-who-to-identify-pathogens-that-could-cause-future-outbreaks-and-pandemics