Disease "X" new pathogens are waiting for the opportunity to appear, what awaits the post-HIV, Ebola and Covid-19 world?

When forests are destroyed, it is obvious that wild animals will come closer to humans, leading to a great risk of infection. And once a new strain of virus appears and spreads among people, the consequences will be terrifying. Covid-19 is an example, so is Ebola. And with humans increasingly interfering in nature, the emergence of new diseases will no longer be "If", but "When".

According to TASS news agency, the Russian Federal Service of Supervision of Consumer Welfare and Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) announced that it is monitoring information about infectious outbreaks, especially the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). DRC) after the US CNN reported the appearance of "disease X".

"We are closely monitoring reports of the risk of infectious diseases, both new and old, around the world," Rospotrebnadzo said on January 3.

On December 31, CNN reported that a strange case appeared in Ingende - a town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A woman fell ill with early symptoms of dengue fever, but tests showed that she did not have Ebola or any other known virus. A woman with mild dengue symptoms sitting quietly on a bed, trying to hold two children who were struggling to escape from a room designed like a prison at a hospital in Ingende - a remote village of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The woman is only allowed to talk to her loved ones through a plastic glass. Her identity was forced to remain secret, to avoid receiving discrimination from local residents who were very afraid of contracting Ebola. Two children have also been tested, although they have not shown any symptoms.

The patient later recovered, but doctors were worried because they could not trace the source of the disease, which manifests itself as an Ebola case. Commenting on the strange case, Rospotrebnadzor said that there is not enough information at hand to determine the cause of the disease, but it seems that its nature is viral.

Although there is not enough evidence to conclude the extent of infection and danger of the disease, Russian regulators emphasized that "the danger should not be underestimated".

"The emergence of new diseases, including those that can cause pandemics, is part of natural evolution. Therefore, the mission to study the microbial world around us needs to be continuously deployed. and systematic," commented Rospotrebnadzor.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Disease X" is a medical concept to refer to a virus that is capable of spreading as quickly as Covid-19, but has a mortality rate of 50% - 90. % of Ebola. Although the existence of "Disease X" is only in theory, if it really happens, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes it will create a very terrifying pandemic. The "X" here means "unexpected".

In an interview with CNN, Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, who helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976, warned that many diseases of animal origin could emerge in the future. Yellow fever, various influenza, rabies, lyme disease... are diseases that have jumped from animals to humans through vectors such as rats and insects.

The HIV virus came from a chimpanzee species, it mutated and became a global pandemic. SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 are all corona viruses, but science has not determined which species in the animal kingdom they originated.

Ebola in fact has a vaccine and a treatment, thereby reducing the mortality rate for a disease that is thought to be "get it and die". However, the concern of experts lies elsewhere: What if this woman does not have Ebola, but is patient zero of "Disease X" (Disease X)?

And it's not an idle fear, but a real danger based on real scientific knowledge. "We should be afraid. Before, nobody knew about Ebola. Covid-19 too. We had to fear a new epidemic," - quoted Dr. Dadin Bonkole, who treated the above patient.

New virus is coming

Since the first case of zoonotic transmission was identified in 1901 (yellow fever), scientists have found at least 200 more viruses capable of causing disease in humans. According to research by Mark Woolhouse, professor of epidemiology from the University of Edinburgh (UK), there are about 3-4 new strains of viruses found each year, and most of them originate from animals.

Experts say that the emergence of virus strains really has a lot to do with the destruction of ecosystems by humans and the problem of wildlife trade. As habitats are destroyed, animals such as rats, bats and insects begin to live closer to humans. They are very easy to become hosts to bring strange diseases to humans.

As with Ebola in the past, scientists determined the cause came from the terrible invasion of the rainforest by humans. In a 2017 study, experts identified 25-27 outbreaks around the rainforests of Central and West Africa using satellite data between 2001 and 2014. It started two years earlier, when forests were severely damaged.

In the first 14 years of the 21st century, an area of rainforest larger than Bangladesh was cleared in the Congo River Delta. The United Nations (UN) has warned that if deforestation continues at the current rate, the rainforests in Congo will disappear completely by the end of the century. At that time, wild animals and the viruses they carry will reach people, and can completely cause disaster.

How the first human case of Ebola was transmitted is still a mystery. However, science believes that the process of spreading in diseases like Ebola and Covid-19 begins during the dissection of wild animals. In Africa, wildlife meat - also known as "dust meat" - is the main source of protein in the rain forests, but is now being shipped globally. The United Nations estimates that every year, about 5 million tons of meat are supplied from the Congo River region around the world.

We intruded too much

In Kinshasa (Congo), a market trader is smoking the carcass of a colobus monkey. The small creature was sold for 22 USD (equivalent to more than 500,000 VND), but he said it was still possible to bargain.

The colobus is a species of long-haired monkey from Africa. They were once hunted to the point of extinction in some parts of Europe, but the trader shares he is able to transport a decent number to Europe by plane.

"Honestly, the transportation of monkeys is strictly prohibited," he explained. "We had to cut off our heads and limbs, then stuff them with other legal meats." According to the share, he has a shipment almost every week, mainly from Ingende - the village that is causing experts to fear a new epidemic.

"In Kinshasa alone, about 5 to 15 tons of 'dust meat' was exported. Some went to the US, but partly to Europe - mainly Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and London (UK)." - quotes Adams Cassinga, wildlife crime investigator in the Congo.

In fact, monkeys, pythons and smoked mule deer, although they look horrible and cruel, they can hardly carry dangerous viruses thanks to the preliminary processing. On the contrary, it is the markets that sell live animals that are considered the real danger, especially when the markets sell wild animals.

There are markets selling crocodiles, then sea turtles, tortoises, even chimpanzees in the black markets. "Sickness X" can lurk in these animals, spreading while the working poor transport and process them to cater to people with money wanting to try exotic flavors.

"The dust here is not for the poor, but for the rich and the rich to enjoy. They believe that wild animal meat will bring health and strength," - quoted Cassinga. "Some eat to show authority."

When forests are destroyed, it is obvious that wild animals will come closer to humans, leading to a great risk of infection. And once a new strain of virus appears and spreads among people, the consequences will be terrifying. Covid-19 is an example, so is Ebola. And with humans increasingly interfering in nature, the emergence of new diseases will no longer be "If", but "When".

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