Scientists are raising alarms about Disease X as a potential trigger for the next pandemic, with influenza identified as a significant threat. According to an upcoming international survey, 57% of senior disease experts now view a strain of influenza virus as the most probable cause of the next global outbreak of “deadly infectious illness.”
Influenza, a familiar adversary associated with seasonal sickness, has emerged as a possible candidate for this unpredictable and potentially catastrophic role. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that seasonal flu isn’t merely a winter inconvenience; it affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide annually, with millions suffering from severe complications and hundreds of thousands losing their lives. The WHO underscores the threat posed by new flu strains, for which people lack immunity, urging vigilance against influenza.
Research conducted by Jon Salmanton-García of Cologne University supports these concerns. His studies suggest that influenza poses the greatest threat to the impending global pandemic due to its ongoing evolution and mutation characteristics. “Each winter, influenza outbreaks occur, which can be described as mini pandemics. They are more or less manageable because the strains causing them are not sufficiently virulent – but this may not always be the case,” he stated, as reported by the Guardian.
Scientists issue a warning about Disease X, a virus that remains unidentified. The survey findings will be unveiled at the ESCMID congress next weekend. Experts consider the “Disease X” virus as the next most probable cause of a pandemic, following influenza. They fear that a new strain of this virus could emerge unexpectedly, similar to Covid-19, which resulted in millions of deaths worldwide and continues to pose a threat.
These worrisome revelations coincide with the World Health Organization’s concerns regarding the rapid spread of the H5N1 strain of influenza in parts of the US. The organization has cautioned about an “unprecedented surge” in the number of cases.
“This appears to be 100 times worse than Covid, or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate. Once it’s mutated to infect humans, we can only hope that the [fatality rate] drops.” John Fulton a pharmaceutical company consultant, said in a statement earlier.
WHO records indicate that since 2003, the H5N1 virus has led to a fatality rate exceeding 50 percent, with 52 out of every 100 infected patients succumbing to the illness. This rate is notably higher than the current COVID-19 fatality rate, which stands at 0.1 percent.
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