The WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warned that the world isn’t ready for another pandemic, and it might be even more severe than Covid, The Sun reported.
WHO Director-General cautions that Disease X may be caused by an influenza virus or a new coronavirus
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, is alerting about a potential new threat dubbed “Disease X” that could spread rapidly across the globe. He emphasizes that we haven’t fully grasped the valuable lessons from previous pandemics. And as a result, civilization will “pay dearly”, he added.
🚩 WHO Director-General Tedros Says Disease X ‘Is a Matter of When, Not If’
“It may be caused by an influenza virus or a new coronavirus. Or it may be caused by a new pathogen we don’t even know about yet, what we call Disease X.” pic.twitter.com/IJCdvwe33j
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 16, 2024
Ghebreyesus addressed attendees at the World Government Summit in Dubai, where he described humanity as “unprepared” for Disease X, and the next pandemic. “If it struck tomorrow, we would face many of the same problems we faced with COVID-19.”
“The painful lessons we learned are in danger of being forgotten as attention turns to the many other crises confronting our world. But if we fail to learn those lessons, we will pay dearly next time,” he stated.
The haunting question of how far away the next global pandemic is was answered by Ghebreyesus: “History teaches us that the next pandemic is a matter of when not if.”
Disease X threat looms amid Alaskapox update
“Disease X” is a term used to refer to a hypothetical disease or pathogen that humanity is not adequately prepared to handle.
The public health official further highlighted that while it’s impossible to predict the exact time or location of the next emergence of Disease X, its occurrence is inevitable.
He stressed that Disease X could potentially be triggered by various sources, such as an influenza virus, a novel coronavirus, or even a completely unknown pathogen, Metro reported. Ghebreyesus said: “COVID-19 was a Disease X – a new pathogen causing a new disease.”
Tedros issued his alert as several potentially lethal outbreaks have been reported recently. On Monday, physicians in Oregon verified the first human instance of bubonic plague in the state in nearly a decade.
The announcement follows closely after the first documented death from the newly identified viral illness, Alaskapox. It is a newly discovered DNA virus, mostly spreads among mammals but can infect humans. The victim is one of seven confirmed cases, with the first recorded in 2015, showing symptoms like rash and swollen lymph nodes.
