"Global diseases are usually transmitted through the air, and it is difficult to prevent them compared to transmission through blood or water. It is impossible for people to stop breathing," stated Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the head of the ministry's communication and public services bureau, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Tarmizi mentioned that one of the diseases that can be transmitted through the air is influenza, similar to COVID-19, which triggered a global pandemic.
"That's why influenza always has the potential to become a pandemic. We do not have a cure for all types of influenza yet. The most possible way to deal with it is through vaccination," Tarmizi explained.
In addition to influenza, she also mentioned several other potential candidates for Disease X, categorized as zoonoses, which are diseases transmitted from animals to humans, such as Ebola, acute hepatitis, and monkeypox.
"Like Ebola, it has been speculated to become a global outbreak for several years, but it hasn't reached that stage yet," she remarked.
Tarmizi explained that Disease X is a term adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2018 to represent hypothetical diseases that are not yet known but have the potential to cause future pandemics.
During the 76th World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22, the WHO drew attention to the possibility of the emergence of Disease X .
Tarmizi stated that Disease X is caused by unknown pathogens in humans, such as viruses, bacteria, or fungi, with no known treatment.
The term Disease X has been used by the WHO since 2018 for unknown diseases. One year later, COVID-19 emerged as a new pandemic.
"The current readiness is for anticipating and preparing the whole country. The problem is, we still do not know the drug to cure it or the trigger that starts it all," she concluded.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta S
Editor: Anton Santoso
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