The potential dangers of “disease X” are on the agenda of discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos. What is this fictional virus that could cause a pandemic?
- On the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a round table is planned to discuss “preparing for disease likely to cause a pandemic.
- For the WHO, according to which between 631,000 and 827,000 unknown viruses have the capacity to infect humans, this pathogen tropical regions.
- The objective of this “X” scenario is to anticipate the worst so that international health systems are ready for it, by directing investments in research and development to be able to screen, treat, vaccinate, and thus stop the potential upcoming epidemic.
As the World Economic Forum opened this week in Davos, Switzerland, a round table is planned for Wednesday to discuss “preparation for disease X”, according to the summit’s online agenda. Objective of the meeting, to discuss “new efforts needed to prepare health systems for the multiple challenges that await them”.
Disease X, an unknown, contagious, fatal… and hypothetical pathology
First of all, therefore, this famous “disease “causing twenty times more victims than Covid-19”according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
For the institution, according to which between 631,000 and 827,000 unknown viruses have the capacity to infect humansthis pathogen X could be a zoonotic disease, that is to say transmitted by animals or insects, and emerge in tropical regions where there is high biodiversity and anthropogenic land degradation.
Preparing health systems for a potential pandemic
The WHO has been warning about this hypothetical evil for years: in 2018, it added “disease X” to the list of nine pathologies representing a risk to public health, such as the Ebola or Zika viruses. At that time, its general director stated: “This is not a horror movie scenario, this is precisely what happened exactly one hundred years ago, with the Spanish flu [qui a fait entre 30 et 100 millions de morts]. Epidemic episodes are inevitable, but not epidemics. The best way to protect against health crises is to strengthen health systems.”
This is the whole purpose of this “X” scenario: to anticipate the worst so that the world is ready for it, by directing investments in research and development in order to be able to screen, treat, vaccinate, and thus stop the potential epidemic. future.
A hypothetical virus that agitates conspiracy theorists
Unsurprisingly, this threat which does not yet exist was an opportunity for the conspiracy sphere to get involved, especially since the Davos Forum is already regularly the target, accused of influencing public policies by outside of any democratic consultation.
Florian Philippot, a former MEP who is a fan of fake news, thus stated on the social network that the summit participants would like “prepare ourselves for disease that’s to say “in Davosian language: stir up fear, prepare the ‘mRNA vaccines’ and the Passes that go with them!” It was notably retweeted by another notorious conspiratorial and anti-vaccine figure, the singer Francis Lalanne who, for his part, writes very seriously “The plague! Hence the voluntary breeding of rats in Paris! It’s planned!”
