Disease X virus: UK health expert says deadlier than Covid, could kill 50 million

The World Health Organisation (WHO) named a new virus variant disease X, which according to a UK health specialist is deadlier than COVID-19 and has the possibility of causing another pandemic. UK health specialist, Kate Bingham said the new virus could have a similar impact to the devastating Spanish Flu of 1919-1920 in a media interview.

According to WHO, Disease X could be a new agent – a virus, a bacterium or a fungus – without any known treatments.

How deadly is disease X?

Kate Bingham, who served as the chair of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce from May to December 2020 expressed her concern over the devastating effect of this new virus and said, “Let me put it this way: the 1918-19 flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, twice as many as were killed in World War I. Today, we could expect a similar death toll from one of the many viruses that already exist.”

She further added in her interview that if the world has to tackle the threat from Disease X, “the world will have to prepare for mass vaccination drives and deliver the doses in record time.”

While commenting on the Covid-19 pandemic she said that “we got lucky” even though the virus “caused 20 million or more deaths across the world.”

The point is that the vast majority of people infected with the virus managed to recover… Imagine Disease X is as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola. Somewhere in the world, it’s replicating, and sooner or later, somebody will start feeling sick,” Ms Bingham added.

Citing examples from the deaths caused by Ebola and bird flu she said that “we certainly can’t bank on the next pandemic being easily contained.”

“The increase in outbreaks is the price we’re having to pay for living in the modern world. First, it’s increasingly connected through globalisation. Second, more and more people are cramming into cities, where they often come into close contact with others,” said Ms Bingham.

WHO announced disease ‘X’

Due to the increase in deforestation, modern agricultural methods and the destruction of wetlands, viruses are on the rise and spreading from one species to the other.

World Health Organisation (WHO) was the first one to announce the presence of this virus in May this year on their website and said that the term “represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease”.

The term was first used by WHO in 2018 and only a year later Covid-19 started spreading worldwide.