Without exceeding Covid-19, scientists predict the threat of disease X, what is it? All pages

KOMPAS.com – Experts predict that the Covid-19 pandemic will not be the last pandemic on earth. According to them, there will be a new pandemic after Covid-19.

The doctor who discovered the Ebola virus, Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, warned that a deadly new virus would attack humanity as doctors feared a new Disease X or Disease X.

He said there would be a new and potentially deadly virus emerging from the rainforests of Africa.

“We are now in a world where new pathogens are emerging. And that is what poses a threat to humanity,” he said. CNN, December 22, 2020.

Also read: WHO experts call the corona virus the dreaded disease X

Not only that, the emeritus professor of emergency medicine at the University of Arizona in the United States, Dr. Kenneth Iserson, also said the same thing.

“The world is already seeing a number of new diseases that have the potential to develop into Disease X,” said Dr. Iserson. The times of the strait, December 31, 2020.

Australian Griffith University epidemiologist Dicky Budiman explained that disease X refers to the name of an unknown disease.

He said that “X” in English is often associated with something whose type or origin is unknown.

“This is a disease that has the potential to become a devastating pandemic that can cause death, it is rapidly contagious, it is now called disease X,” he said. Kompas.com, Sunday (1/3/2021).

Dicky said the WHO has been using this term since 2015. At the time, it was said that there are at least 1.6 million unknown viruses on earth.

Of that number, at least 827,000 viruses can infect humans. Of the 827,000, the researchers were only able to identify or recognize 263 viruses.

“This means that 99.9 percent of the viruses that could be a threat to a pandemic are unknown to us,” he added.

Also read: Mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China, recognize these 5 types of pneumonia

Disease X and list of priority diseases

Currently, the WHO has a list of priority diseases in addition to Covid-19, such as Ebola, Zikka and others.

Countries are expected to have the capacity to detect diseases early. Dicky said detection and surveillance were the keys. Not only in humans but also in animals.

Regarding the Ebola virus, Dicky explained that the disease was not Disease X.

“Ebola is one of the WHO priority lists, yes, but if Ebola is not disease X, because of disease X it will spread easily and also cause a high mortality rate,” he said.

Pandemic threat

According to Dicky, the threat of a pandemic will increase. He shared his experiences during his time in government and came up with a pattern.

Also read: The uneven impact of vaccination against Covid-19 only makes the pandemic endemic

For the past 20 years, society has experienced a pandemic epidemic almost every 5 years. So 2021 could be even more worrisome.

“Entering 2021, the world is entering the pandemic era and the pandemic era means that the threat of a pandemic will be more prevalent. This means that our healthcare system must be strong. During this pandemic we receive evidence of our health system, “he said.

Pandemics could potentially arise more frequently due to increased human interaction. In other words, human interactions with animals in the natural environment are also increasingly frequent and tend to ignore the principle of balance.

According to him, a single health approach is needed as a solution, namely the development of health in harmony with the development of animal health.

KOMPAS.com/Akbar Bhayu Tamtomo
Infographic: Beware of Corona Covid-19 Virus Transmission