Scientists Warn That Flu Virus May Cause Next Pandemic Before Disease X
According to scientific predictions, influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future. According to a report in the Guardian, the findings of an international study that will be made public the following weekend show that 57% of top disease experts now believe that a strain of the flu virus will be the cause of the next significant infectious disease outbreak to hit the globe.
The concept is based on a long-term study showing that influenza is always changing and evolving, according to the study’s author, Jon Salmanton-Garcia of Cologne University. Every winter, the flu shows up. These outbreaks could be compared to mini-pandemics. The reason they are largely under control is that the many strains that produce them are not very virulent, but this won’t always be the case, he added.
The poll results will be presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Congress in Barcelona the following weekend, which is a noteworthy event. Twenty-one percent of the experts in the research believe that the second most likely cause of a pandemic, after influenza, is probably a virus known as Disease X, which is presently unknown to science. Scientists predict that an unknown microbe that appears out of nowhere will cause the next pandemic.
Disease X is the name of a possible virus that resembles COVID-19; it is not a specific disease. Without a recognized cure, it might be a novel agent, a virus, a bacteria, or a fungus. The COVID-19, Ebola, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Nipah, and Zika viruses that have already resulted in extensive deaths during outbreaks are the illnesses that the world health organization has classified as unknown. According to The Lancet, the WHO officially began referring to the disease as “the next unknown disease with epidemic potential” in 2018.
Disease X is mentioned in a WHO report dated November 2022 as a potential infection that could trigger a severe global epidemic. The pathogen is unknown. The globe Health Organization (WHO) states that although there are many possible infections in the globe, there are not enough resources available for disease research and development (R&D).
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