A panel of healthcare experts discussed ‘Disease X’ at Davos. But it’s only a hypothetical illness

CLAIM: A deadly contagion known as Disease X is emerging and under discussion at the World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Disease X is not real. It is the name given to a hypothetical pathogen that is being used to help plan for future health crises. Global healthcare experts this week spoke on a WEF panel called “Preparing for Disease X.” The name was coined by the World Health Organization in 2018.

THE FACTS: In the days leading up to Wednesday’s panel on the topic, social media users began sharing a range of posts misrepresenting Disease X as real, and portraying it as an imminent threat to society.

“Disease X is the mystery contagion that the World Economic Forum is having a meeting about TODAY!” reads one Instagram post that had received more than 2,000 likes as of Thursday. “Apparently it ‘could have 20 times more fatalities than COVID.’ Remember… they always tell us what’s coming.”

But Disease X is not an actual illness. The WHO introduced the concept as part of its 2018 list of diseases that pose the greatest public health risk. The information helps guide global research and development in areas such as vaccines, tests and treatments. Disease X represents a hypothetical pathogen that could one day cause an epidemic or pandemic, according to a 2022 announcement about the WHO’s intent to update its list.

An initial version of the list, which did not include Disease X, was published in 2017 and another update is planned for the first half of 2024. Actual diseases on the current list include COVID-19, Zika, Ebola and SARS, among others.

“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 the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said in the 2022 press release.

Asked for comment on false claims about Disease X, the WHO sent The Associated Press an updated copy of the release, which was nearly identical to the one from 2022.

The Davos panel discussing Disease X on Wednesday featured global healthcare leaders, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; Nísia Trindade, Brazil’s minister of health; and Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. Called “Preparing for Disease X,” participants discussed how to prepare healthcare systems for future pandemics and other crises.___This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.