What is Disease X? The hypothetical virus world leaders are preparing for

(NEXSTAR) — Conspiracy theories are circulating online as world leaders prepare to discuss readiness for a hypothetical virus known as “Disease X” at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, will host a seminar on Wednesday alongside other health officials about how to prepare for the next pandemic – which they fear could be deadlier than COVID-19.

A description of the event reads: “With fresh warnings from the World Health Organization that an unknown ‘Disease X’ could result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus pandemic, what novel efforts are needed to prepare healthcare systems for the multiple challenges ahead?”

News of the seminar led to a social media firestorm. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, ranting about the so-called “release of a new virus.”

“It’s very rare to find a new disease. So, when you hear ‘Disease X,’ they mean the laboratory-made synthetic viruses,” Jones said in the video, which has gained more than 860,000 views.

To be clear, “Disease X” is not a real disease – at least not yet. It’s a placeholder name for an unknown virus that could infect humans in the future. “X” means “unexpected,” the World Economic Forum noted.

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 agency added the term to its list of priority diseases back in 2018. The list is part of the WHO’s Research and Development Blueprint, a plan that aims to “fast-track the availability of effective tests, vaccines and medicines” that can save lives during a major health crisis.

“Targeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response,” Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said in a 2022 press release.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,300 people, about a decade ago prompted the WHO to create the blueprint, according to the World Economic Forum.

“During Ebola, WHO worked alongside numerous governments, public and private entities and scientists,” Marie-Paule Kieny, a former WHO assistant director-general, previously said. “That effort resulted in the first-ever fully effective vaccine against Ebola, developed and tested in 12 months as opposed to the five to 10 years such a process would normally take.”

Other diseases on the list include, but are not limited to, COVID-19, SARS, Rift Valley fever and Zika.