(OPINION) The Sun– Mankind is on a collision course with nature around the world which could trigger an outbreak known as “Disease X” which could be worse than the Black Death. Scientists have predicted we could face a health emergency or pandemic every five years likely caused by “zoonotic” diseases – when infections jump from animals to humans.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced this week it believes Covid is likely one of these types of infections as it is believed to have crossed from animals such as bats to humans. It has been warned even more deadly diseases like this are on the horizon – with warnings the next pandemic could be on the scale of the Black Death, which is estimated to have killed 75million people.

Experts have told The Sun Online how there are many other mysterious diseases lurking on the fringes of human society around the world that could make the jump to man. And there have been dozens of examples of diseases crossing from animals to man over the last few decades alone.


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The nightmare scenario is one of these new diseases or a strain of an older one, emerges that is both highly contagious and highly deadly – allowing it to spread quickly and kill millions before the world can take action. The threat of unknown viruses that can be transmitted to humans and potentially cause widespread epidemics is known as Disease X by WHO. READ MORE