Pandemic 2025? 11 diseases docs most worried about - including Disease X and Covid 2.0
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The mysteriously named Disease X has the potential to become the next big pandemic, a doctor has warned, while also claiming the world isn't prepared for a sudden boom in cases. Disease X - which is essentially the name given to an as-yet-unknown infection - was among 11 other dangerous diseases that doctors were most concerned about for the year ahead. Measles, cholera, scabies, bird flu, and even another Covid outbreak were also included in the list of scientists' most feared infections for 2025.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had previously dubbed unknown pathogens as Disease X, and it was included in its own priority list of diseases that needed urgent research. It's most recently killed at least 31 people - mainly children - in the Panzi region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The WHO said there were more than 400 recorded cases of an undiagnosed disease in the DRC between October 24 and December 5. The most common symptoms included fever, headache, body aches, and a bad cough. But, the most severe cases were often linked to severe malnutrition, it said.
Disease X is one of the infections that's most likely to lead to severe outbreaks, and possibly even a pandemic, according to Dr Michael Head; Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton. If an outbreak were to appear immediately, the world would likely be incredibly unprepared, in a similar vein to the international shock of coronavirus.
Disease X isn't an actual infection - it's more the name given to any disease that hasn't been identified, so far. But, the idea of an unknown virus or bacterial infection is very real, and scientists have urged governments to be prepared for anything Mother Nature might throw at us.
