The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our daily lives for almost an entire year, especially those of us in the United States. With vaccine distribution underway and the Biden administration stepping up preventive measures to keep the pandemic in check, news that another global health crisis may be coming is not what many of us want to hear now.

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, suggested that another pandemic could be on the horizon, caused by an unknown ‘Disease X’. He admitted that in 2017, he and some colleagues asked the World Health Organization to add something called Disease X to their list of priority diseases.


David Ryder / Getty Images

He added that the impending pandemic must be on everyone’s radar. “You could use the phrase ‘is when, not if’,” he said of his potential.

“We thought the next emerging pandemic could be a virus we didn’t even know about yet – frankly, we thought it was the most likely scenario,” he said. At a meeting the following year, experts examined what the disease might be and discovered the possibility of a new coronavirus related to Mers or Sers.

“I’m not sure if there is much thought about the next threat, while the world is totally focusing on dealing with the one it has. I absolutely agree that more needs to be thought about,” he said to say. “Unfortunately, I like to say, we did a lot of work, did our review, went into the exam room and gave us the wrong role.”


Spencer Platt / Getty Images

“We think the next emerging pandemic could be a virus that we don’t know about yet,” he said. “To be frank, we thought it was the most likely scenario. It is to catch those that will actually cause the next pandemic with this constant stream of new viruses that are emerging. Occasionally, one appears, thus identifying the rare event is always difficult.”

It looks like there won’t be a “post-pandemic” in the near future, after all.

[via]