The Current Deadly Pathogen

[Bobbert]

The newsman was referring to the current deadly pathogen

El reportero se refería al patógeno mortífero actual

El reportero se refería al actual patógeno mortal

Are either of these correct? If not, what is the correct wording and word order?

Thank you for any input you can provide.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Both are correct. We don't have an incorrect order of adjectives in Spanish, but the nuance, for me, is on what you want to stress:

If you say "el patógeno mortífero actual", the adjective "mortífero" is closer to the noun, and therefore you're stressing that the pathogen is lethal.

If you say "el actual patógeno mortal", you're stressing how recent it is, which in my opinion, is a waste of emphasis, given the fact that the worst thing about the pathogen is that it's lethal, rather than its novelty.

"El mortal/mortífero patógeno actual" works better for me for reasons of euphony, but the others are clear and correct.

[Bobbert]

Thank you, AngelicaDeAlquezar.