Disease X ‘waiting in the wings to strike’: WHO issues warning over mystery epidemic

“This has happened many times during the last decade: H1N1 Swine flu virus in 2009, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, and more recently Zika in South America in 2015.”

Mr Jasarevic stressed the importance of being prepared for the illnesses the nature of which is not yet known.

He said: “We should be aware that the unknown can happen, and make sure we prepare and plan flexibly in advance of any epidemics. 

“For example, platforms for developing vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests that will work for any or a wide number of diseases, including an unknown disease, and will allow us to create countermeasures quickly.

“However, while products to detect, prevent, treat and control these diseases are fundamental, they are not sufficient unless there are basic capabilities in the affected countries that will improve disease surveillance and the capacity of local health systems, which would help in turn to detect and respond to an outbreak quickly.”