Find out the Real Facts Behind Fear Mongering Misleading Claims on ‘Disease X’!

This investigation focuses on a series of misleading posts promoting a conspiracy theories related to ‘Disease X’, a topic which has gained a lot of traction on social media over the past few days and is on the agenda of the ongoing WEF annual summit in Switzerland.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts suggest that there is a session in the World Economic Forum's summit currently being held in Davos, Switzerland, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), which would focus on the preparedness for launching a disease called "Disease X," which could lead to a new pandemic.

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Users commented like below.

Based on many similar posts, many social media users questioned why the WEF, along with WHO and other business leaders, were suddenly talking About "Disease X"; purportedly a new disease that could be 20 times deadlier than Covid-19.

Let’s look at the facts behind the discussion point on ‘Disease X.’

Fact Check

Understanding "Disease X" as a Hypothetical Scenario

"Disease X" is hypothetical, not an actual disease. It is used to represent a pathogen currently unknown to scientists and healthcare professionals, with the potential to trigger a severe global epidemic.

The WHO elaborates further on its website, saying, “‘Disease X’ represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been conducting discussions on pandemic preparedness for several years. In December 2015, WHO put together a plan called the R&D Blueprint, which included a list of infectious diseases that could cause a severe outbreak but did not have a drug or vaccine to treat it. Among deadly diseases like Ebola, Zika, etc., ‘disease X’ was also drafted to the list in 2015 as a placeholder for something that didn’t exist yet but could happen.

In the subsequent years, also in 2017/18, well before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of the term "Disease X" was also part of a standard practice aimed at improving global readiness for potential health crises. WHO included “disease X” in its first list of priority diseases in 2017.

Insight from WHO on Prioritization and Preparedness

In 2022, the Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, Dr. Michael Ryan, clarified to Lead Stories that prioritising pathogens and virus families for research and development is essential for an effective epidemic and pandemic response. The selection process involves scientific, public health, socioeconomic impact, access, and equity criteria. The WHO has convened numerous experts to consider evidence on various virus families, bacteria, and "Disease X" to recommend a list of priority pathogens that require further research and investment.

Updates from the World Economic Forum (WEF)

The much-hyped panel discussion titled ‘Preparing for a ‘Disease X’ was held at the WEF summit on 17^th January, led by the Director General of the World Health Organization. The discussion, which also included an esteemed panel of experts, spoke about the need for health systems to be resilient to face any future medical emergency which requires global cooperation and how to learn from past experiences to strengthen future action points. WEF web

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), also clarified that ‘Disease X’ was given as the placeholder’s name for an unknown disease and was not a new idea and that WHO used this terminology since 2017/18. He went on to add that we could say to the extent that ‘COVID-19’ as the first disease X we had to face, and something similar could happen again, and being prepared for something unknown is essential for healthcare systems. Look at a Few highlights from Dr. Tedros's speech here.

The full discussion at WEF on ‘Preparing for a ‘Disease X’ is seen below.

During past years, we have observed a consistent trend of misleading posts targeting the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its activities.

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Conclusion

Therefore, the conspiracy theory that the World Economic Forum's summit, in collaboration with WHO, is discussing the launch of a disease for a new pandemic is false. The session focuses on global preparedness and response strategies for future health crises, including considering potential priority pathogens such as the hypothetical "Disease X" for further research and investment.

The social media posts misinterpret the purpose of the session at the World Economic Forum's summit, creating a false narrative around the discussion. The facts indicate that the focus is on preparedness for future pandemics and the responsible consideration of potential priority pathogens rather than launching a new disease.