Q. Consider the following statements regarding the ‘Disease X’:
1.It is a term coined by the World Health Organization (WHO) to describe the diseases caused by the SARS-CoV-2.
2.The most likely origin of Disease X is zoonotic transmission.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
Answer: B
Notes:
Explanations –
Statement 1 is incorrect. Disease X is a hypothetical concept introduced by the WHO in 2018 to represent an unknown pathogen that could cause a future epidemic or pandemic. It is not specific to SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19, although COVID-19 was later speculated to be an example of Disease X due to its unexpected emergence and global impact.
Statement 2 is correct. The WHO and experts have indicated that Disease X is likely to emerge from zoonotic transmission, where a virus jumps from animals to humans, similar to past outbreaks like Ebola and COVID-19.
Source: The Hindu
