Coronavirus: According to experts, these 10 diseases can prove deadlier than COVID-19

COVID-19 was an unprecedented crisis of grievous proportions no one saw coming and proved to be the scary highlight of 2020.

From millions of casualties, fatalities and an unfortunate impact on other sectors of life- the novel coronavirus outbreak was one of the biggest pandemics the world ever saw. Even with vaccination drives starting, some worry that the virus may never really go away.

However, if anything, the pandemic also served us some lessons to learn- how to, and how not to deal with an infection of such proportions. As experts say, COVID-19 isn't the first or the last pandemic we would see.

While the virus surge continues to wane gradually, epidemiologists and medical experts are drawing our attention towards some other grave diseases and infections, which could turn into the next big pandemic in the making if preventive steps aren't taken in time.

We tell you about some of the biggest biological and health threats the world is at the risk of facing:

The most recent outbreak of Ebola was thought to be the deadliest one. However, many fear that the worst may not have been really fear.

Ebola, which spreads through transmission of bodily fluids and exposes healthcare workers to grave risk as well is no better contained than before. According to recent statistics, over 3400 cases and 2270 deaths have been reported. A vaccine to prevent Ebola was only approved for use in January 2020 and has not yet been widely rolled out.

If steps aren’t taken, Ebola may turn into an inevitable pandemic which could have super scary repercussions.

Lassa fever is a viral infection which causes haemorrhagic illness symptoms.

What makes the disease super deadly is that every 1 in 5 individuals who contract Lassa fever develop life-threatening complications in the liver, spleen and kidneys.

Lassa fever is also easier to spread since it can be easily transmitted via contaminated household objects, urine, faeces, blood transfusions. The disease originated from Africa is known to cause deadlier outbreaks, be recurring in nature and have long-term consequences, including hearing loss.

It's still rampant, takes away hundreds of lives in Africa and does not have a vaccine.

The only disease to have been successfully contained, the Marburg Virus Disease is also a deadly pandemic in the making.

Known to be related to the family of viruses which causes Ebola, Marburg Virus can be super contagious and spread via even by touching a patient, dead or alive.

The disease, which carries a scary 88% fatality claimed lives of all three people who were infected in the last outbreak.

In the first outbreak reported in 2005 in Uganda, over 90% of infected people lost their lives.

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a contagious infection which primarily spreads through respiratory droplets is still a scary epidemic which could fuel as a pandemic in no time.

Even though the number of cases reported over the months has tapered down, scientists believe that careless mistakes and lack of respiratory hygiene could fuel up a spike in cases worldwide.

It's also a disease closely related to SARS-COV-2 since both spread in a similar manner. Scientists are also trying to study if both the diseases mount similar antibody response in nature.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak belongs to the same family of viruses as COVID-19. Ever since the first outbreak was reported in 2002 in China, the SARS epidemic spread out to over 26 countries, resulting in over 8000 cases.

In many cases, the SARS virus has been likened to the novel coronavirus. It had a high fatality rate, showed the same symptoms, transmitted through respiratory droplets and had no effective treatment or cure. However, COVID-19 is a much stronger mutation, meaning it carries far more dangerous repercussions for the human race.

Even though it wreaked havoc way before COVID-19 was discovered and suppressed now, scientists believe that the outbreak could fairly easily make a comeback.

Nipah Virus, closely related to the measles virus was an infection which spread profusely in the state of Kerala in 2018. While the outbreak was contained and managed well, the symptoms of the disease and the way of transmission makes it a likely candidate for future spread as well.

The most common symptoms of the infection, which spreads from bats to humans include nervous inflammation, swelling, extreme headaches, vomiting, dizziness and nausea.

The discovery of ‘Disease X’ has put the world into a tizzy and has been coined as a possible pandemic to emerge in 2021.

According to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind the discovery of the deadly Ebola crisis, the world is at the looming threat of being faced by another apocalypse- named 'Disease X', thought to have come from the African rainforests and may have started to claim casualties as we know of.

The possibility of the infection spreading first emerged when a woman in a remote region of Congo, Africa reported symptoms similar to hemorrhagic fever and tested negative for all other viral infections.

What makes disease 'X', the cause of which still remains unknown to scientists far deadlier than any other pandemic is its high fatality rate. According to experts, the symptoms of the disease could fuel terrible problems, leaving a fatality rate of 80-90%.