'Disease X': Doctors fear 'new diseases' more contagious than Ebola and COVID-19

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the world is rocked with two new variants that are causing a surge in cases, predictions of ‘Disease X’ have also emerged where ‘X’ stands for ‘unexpected’ and has been labelled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as hypothetical as of now. The first case of the ‘Disease X’ is believed to be the woman in a remote town, Ingende in the Democratic Republic of Congo who has been tested for many diseases including Ebola but doctors fear it could be a case of a mysterious disease, previously unknown.

As per the CNN report, the woman is showcasing symptoms of hemorrhagic fever, which according to the scientists can be an indication of a new and potentially deadly virus which is as contagious as the novel coronavirus but with a fatality rate of Ebola’s 50-90%. Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, the scientist who helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976, told the media outlet “We are now in a world where new pathogens will come out. And that is what constitutes a threat for humanity”.

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What is ‘Disease X’?

The unique case from Ingende, DRC is reportedly the ‘Patient Zero’ of the ‘Disease X’. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Disease X is the possibility of an international epidemic that can spread from a pathogen that still remains novel to the humankind. The disease has also been included in the list of priority disease by the medical experts while saying that it is essential for them to remain vigilant and fear a breakout of yet another pathogen.

While the baffled doctors are still trying to identify the disease witnessed by the woman in DRC, she is allowed to meet her relatives reportedly through a clear plastic observation window. Her two toddlers have also been tested but as of now, how no symptoms. The media outlet quoted the patient’s physician, Dr. Dadin Bonkole saying “We’ve all got to be frightened”. He further reportedly said that Ebola was unknown, so was COVID-19, and hence, the medical professionals “have to be afraid of new diseases”.

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