How is X disease - a new disease named by WHO?

WHO has just named a disease that doesn't even exist.

Since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has regularly released an annual list

They are diseases that are highly capable of outbreaks, or have no effective way to prevent and treat. The list is very diverse, including diseases from lethal viruses such as Ebola, Zika, SARS to rare diseases but never outbreaks like Lassa or Marburg.

And in the list of 2018, WHO published a special disease, named X Disease . So what exactly is this disease but has a mysterious name like that?

What disease is X disease declared by WHO?

The origin of the "death sickness" list

The WHO list for the first time was created in 2014, and the reason is that - the disease has caused 29,000 people to be infected and kill more than 11,000 people. Its purpose is to warn governments to focus on research activities, to develop immediate measures to prevent and respond to epidemics.

However, the problem here is that the plague can come in a way that no one anticipates. As when Ebola appeared in West Africa in 2014, no one knew beforehand but prepared. And this is the reason why the disease X.

The plague can come in a way that no one has anticipated.

X disease can be understood as an unnamed disease. WHO set it up to help experts understand that disease is not always a identified source.

"A global pandemic may appear because a disease has never been recorded," WHO said.

What role does X have?

The presence of X disease means that what needs to be prioritized now is to develop a broad spectrum vaccine technology platform. It is a technology that can be customized every time the translation starts, to create an immediate vaccine against it.

If this technology is developed, a new vaccine can be successfully tested in just 12 months. This is an outstanding step, compared to the current study period of 5-10 years.

X can also be an animal-to-human disease like HIV.

In the past, X has appeared many times, in the form of extremely dangerous diseases.

It may be just a mutation from the regular flu, as the 1918 Spanish flu is an example. It is the most deadly pandemic in history, causing nearly half a billion people to be infected and kill more than 20 million people.

X can also be an animal-to-human disease like HIV. HIV first appeared in chimpanzees, and then spread and killed tens of millions of people since 1983.

Even, X may be a biological weapon that is prohibited by international law.

Need a wider universal vaccine technology platform.

Therefore, the message given by WHO when naming X is extremely clear. Countries need to invest more in research and development of vaccines for diseases. In addition, we need to join hands to prevent biological and chemical warfare to protect human species.