World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞
recently issued a warning about the possibility of an outbreak of "X disease,"
近日就“X疾病”暴发的可能性发出警告
stating that the emergence of new pathogens and the outbreak of epidemics
称新的病原体和流行病的暴发
"is only a matter of time,
“只是时间问题，
not a question of whether it will happen."
而不是是否会暴发的问题”
National Health Commission: Prevention and Response Measures in Place
国家疾控局：可以防范和应对
Wang Hesheng, Director of the National Health Commission, stated in Beijing on the 9th that
国家疾病预防控制局局长王贺胜9日在北京表示，
while the occurrence of "X disease" is difficult to avoid, the resulting pandemic can be prevented and addressed.
虽然“X疾病”的发生很难避免，但由此引发的大流行是可以防范和应对的。
A thematic press conference on people's livelihoods was held during the Second Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress.
十四届全国人大二次会议民生主题记者会当日举行。
Reporters asked questions about how to prevent the potential harm of "X disease."
有记者就如何防范“X疾病”可能带来的危害提问。
On March 9th, the Second Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress held a press conference in Beijing.
3月9日，十四届全国人大二次会议在北京举行记者会。
The picture shows Wang Hesheng, Director of the National Health Commission, answering questions from reporters.
图为国家疾病预防控制局局长王贺胜答记者问。来源：中新网
Wang Hesheng explained that "X disease" does not represent a specific illness but is a contagious disease caused by unknown pathogens that may lead to a global pandemic, with a high degree of uncertainty in its occurrence and development.
王贺胜解释说，“X疾病”并不代表某种具体疾病，是由未知病原体引发可能导致全球大流行的传染病，其发生发展存在很大的不确定性。
"To address the uncertainty of a pandemic with preparedness," Wang Hesheng said, "China will establish a sound legal and regulatory framework, a multi-channel monitoring and early warning system, emergency response plans, scientific prevention and control systems, and community prevention and control systems."
“以准备工作的确定性，来应对传染病大流行的不确定性”，王贺胜说，中国将建立健全法律法规体系、多渠道监测预警体系、应急预案体系、科学防控体系、群防群控体系。
The concept of "X disease" was proposed as early as 2018.
“X疾病”概念2018年就已提出
According to Zhao Wei, Director of the Biosecurity Research Center at the School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, the World Health Organization proposed the concept of "X disease" in 2018 to raise global awareness of newly emerging pathogens or variant pathogens and to minimize their harm to humans.
据南方医科大学公共卫生学院生物安全研究中心主任赵卫介绍，世界卫生组织早在2018年就提出了“X疾病”的概念，主要是为了引起全球对新出现的病原体或变异病原体的重视，尽可能避免或减少它们对人类的危害。
Currently, COVID-19 infections are most similar to "X disease." Therefore, summarizing the prevention and control work of COVID-19 will help us better cope with "X disease" in the future.
目前，新冠病毒感染与“X疾病”最相似。因此，我们要对新冠疫情防控工作进行及时总结，这有助于未来更好地应对“X疾病”。
Due to the uncertainty of human activities and the randomness of pathogen mutations, it is difficult for us to accurately predict the emergence of "X disease" in the future. However, in the long run, "X disease" will definitely occur somewhere.
由于人类活动的不确定性以及病原体变异的不定向性，我们很难准确预测未来“X疾病”的出现时间，但从长远来看，未来“X疾病”一定会在某地发生。
Calling for strengthened monitoring and early warning networks by disease control departments
呼吁疾控部门强化监测预警网络
Zhao Wei emphasized that the public need not worry about "X disease." However, due to the unknown nature of "X disease," there may be mysteries in the source of infection or transmission routes during the early stages of an outbreak, making it relatively difficult to determine the most appropriate personal protective measures.
赵卫强调，公众无需担心“X疾病”。但是，由于“X疾病”具有未知性，流行初期可能存在传染源或传播途径成谜的情况，第一时间就确定最适当的个人防护方法是相对困难的。
As Director Wang Hesheng said, it is necessary to establish a sound multi-channel monitoring and early warning system. Disease control departments should strengthen the risk assessment of infectious diseases and improve their ability to detect outbreaks early. As members of the public, we can pay attention to the announcements of disease control departments and, once "X disease" occurs, follow the relevant guidelines for personal protection to avoid early infection.
正如王贺胜局长所说，应该建立健全多渠道监测预警体系，疾控部门要强化传染病的风险评估，提升早发现的能力。作为公众，可以及时关注疾控部门的公告，一旦发生“X疾病”，按照相关指引做好个人防护，避免早期感染。
Zhao Wei stated that the pathogens of "X disease" are unknown, which increases the difficulty of prevention and treatment. Therefore, disease control agencies need to first enhance their emergency response capabilities in public health, including establishing detection techniques for unknown pathogens, forming a more sensitive and effective monitoring and early warning network, and stocking an adequate supply of personal protective equipment. Secondly, they should improve the clinical treatment level and service capabilities of medical staff to cope with sudden increases in medical demand. Finally, they need to enhance the research and development technology and production capacity of new vaccines to quickly establish an immune barrier in the population after the outbreak of "X disease."
赵卫表示，“X疾病”的病原体具有未知性，增加了预防和治疗的难度。因此，疾控机构首先需要提升公共卫生应急能力，包括建立未知病原的检测技术，形成更敏感有效的监测预警网络，储备充足的个人防护装备；其次，提升医务人员的临床救治水平和服务能力，能够应对突发的医疗需求激增的情况；最后，提升新疫苗的研发技术和生产能力，能够在“X疾病”暴发后在人群中快速建立免疫屏障。
On March 9th, Director Wang Hesheng also introduced that China has established the world's largest infectious disease network reporting system. The average reporting time has been shortened from 5 days to 4 hours, and a technical system for rapid identification of 300 pathogens within 72 hours has been established at the national level. All provincial-level and 90% of municipal-level disease control centers have the capability of nucleic acid testing and virus isolation.
3月9日，王贺胜局长也介绍我国建成了全球规模最大的传染病网络直报系统，平均报告时间从5天缩短到了4个小时，国家层面建立了72小时内快速鉴定300种病原体的技术体系，所有省级和90%的市级疾控中心都具备了核酸检测和病毒分离的能力。
This system makes infectious disease monitoring and early warning more sensitive, with related data reported more timely, achieving early detection and control of infectious diseases and reducing their impact on public life.
这个系统可以使传染病监测预警更加灵敏，相关数据上报得更及时，实现传染病防控的早发现、早控制，降低传染病对公众生活的影响。
For the public, besides developing the habit of paying attention to announcements from disease control agencies, it is also important to minimize contact with wild animals in daily life.
对于公众来讲，除了养成关注疾控机构公告的习惯外，日常生活中也要尽可能减少接触野生动物。