Disease X has been trending on Twitter, with users on the popular Elon Musk-owned platform comparing the “unknown virus” to having the potential for another global pandemic.
COVID-weary users were quick on the draw with a wide sundry of memes and one-liners, with more than 12,000 posts dedicated to the mysterious disease as of press time.
More than a few even took the opportunity to swipe directly at Musk, who recently rebranded Twitter as “X,” suggesting that the disease was one of the Tesla founder’s doing.
But experts in the UK say that Disease X is no laughing matter.
What is Disease X?
The World Health Organization revealed that Disease X is, as of now, an “unknown virus” that has the potential to cause yet another global pandemic, one on the scale of COVID-19 or even larger.
Dr. Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said that the world “can get ready for some virus families,” though Harries also says that we “will never know 100 percent” what Disease X will actually be.
Harries does, however, say that the as-yet-unknown virus is zoonotic, meaning that it originates in animals and can be transmitted to humans.
And the UK is already taking measures to fight back against it.
ITVX News reports that the UK has just opened a research facility costing more than $70million, which is at the forefront of the Disease X research.
Considered a Category 3 virus, which are reserved for viruses that can either be deadly or can be highly contagious, the Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) scientists research hundreds of these types of viruses a day, and they say that deadly ones that cause a global pandemic are becoming more common than ever before.
“The health effects of climate change are already being felt,” said Dr. Elizabeth Oliver.
“We are already seeing a change in the distribution for example vector-borne viruses, those viruses which are carried by mosquitos and by ticks.”
Part of the reason for the UK’s investment into a facility of this magnitude was to answer the lack of preparedness for a non-influenza pandemic.
Former prime minister David Cameron said that this “mistake” was partly responsible for the COVID pandemic becoming what it was.
For now, however, scientists are saying there is nothing in the immediacy to worry about regarding Disease X.
But things are, of course, subject to change.
