NEW DELHI: Scientists who helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976 warned against an unknown number of new and life-threatening viruses facing humanity, including “disease X”.
“We are now in a world where new pathogens will emerge,” said Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, who helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976, adding: “And this is what constitutes a threat to the humanity”.
Muyembe’s statement comes after a patient became infected with a pathogen that has not yet been identified but has Ebola-like symptoms.
In a remote city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), last month a woman showed first signs of hemorrhagic fever. Their samples were tested to detect Ebola and other diseases with similar symptoms.
Everything turned negative making the illness affecting the woman a mystery.
The scientists speculated whether the first known infection of a new pathogen could be the zero patient of “disease X” which, according to the researchers, could be more contagious than Covid-19 and with a mortality rate of 50% in the 90% of Ebola.
In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its global plan to accelerate research and development during health emergencies and also included “Disease X” in its 2018 R&D Plan. “.
The 2018 R&D plan gave priority to nine diseases for R&D, consisting of Covid-19, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease , Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)), Nipah and henipaviral disease, Rift Valley fever, Zika and the latest incorporation “Disease X “.
All of these diseases do not have an effective drug or vaccine.
What is disease X?
“X” means unexpected, explained Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The WHO said it “represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen that is currently unknown to cause human disease.”
At present, disease X remains hypothetical, an outbreak that scientists and public health experts fear could cause serious disease worldwide if it occurs and when it does occur.
Speaking to CNN, Muyembe warned of many other zoonotic diseases (those that jump from animals to humans).
Zoonotic diseases such as yellow fever, rabies, brucellosis and Lyme disease have spread from animals to humans and have caused epidemics and pandemics before. Although the deadly HIV emerged from a type of chimpanzee and turned into a deadly disease, SARS-CoV-2, along with SARS, and MERS are coronaviruses that have suddenly jumped from animals to humans. .
(With contributions from agencies)
“We are now in a world where new pathogens will emerge,” said Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, who helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976, adding: “And this is what constitutes a threat to the humanity”.
Muyembe’s statement comes after a patient became infected with a pathogen that has not yet been identified but has Ebola-like symptoms.
In a remote city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), last month a woman showed first signs of hemorrhagic fever. Their samples were tested to detect Ebola and other diseases with similar symptoms.
Everything turned negative making the illness affecting the woman a mystery.
The scientists speculated whether the first known infection of a new pathogen could be the zero patient of “disease X” which, according to the researchers, could be more contagious than Covid-19 and with a mortality rate of 50% in the 90% of Ebola.
In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its global plan to accelerate research and development during health emergencies and also included “Disease X” in its 2018 R&D Plan. “.
The 2018 R&D plan gave priority to nine diseases for R&D, consisting of Covid-19, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease , Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)), Nipah and henipaviral disease, Rift Valley fever, Zika and the latest incorporation “Disease X “.
All of these diseases do not have an effective drug or vaccine.
What is disease X?
“X” means unexpected, explained Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The WHO said it “represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen that is currently unknown to cause human disease.”
At present, disease X remains hypothetical, an outbreak that scientists and public health experts fear could cause serious disease worldwide if it occurs and when it does occur.
Speaking to CNN, Muyembe warned of many other zoonotic diseases (those that jump from animals to humans).
Zoonotic diseases such as yellow fever, rabies, brucellosis and Lyme disease have spread from animals to humans and have caused epidemics and pandemics before. Although the deadly HIV emerged from a type of chimpanzee and turned into a deadly disease, SARS-CoV-2, along with SARS, and MERS are coronaviruses that have suddenly jumped from animals to humans. .
(With contributions from agencies)