Human impact on environment raises risk of pandemics
Jeff Berardelli,CBS News•April 1, 2020
About two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans have their origins in animals. Scientists say the ability of a virus to mutate and adapt from animals to the human system is very rare, but the expansion of the human footprint is making that rare event much more likely.
For most people, up until the novel coronavirus took over the headlines, the possibility of a new disease emerging out of nowhere and spreading around the world at a breakneck pace seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. But some members of the scientific community have been sounding the alarm for decades, warning that it was land and livestock farms — is associated with around 30% of known emerging diseases," said Daszak.
The reasons why this disruption of the natural habitat helps spread disease are multifaceted. "Perhaps the most obvious is habitat disturbance can cause the animals to move greater distances, carrying their pathogens with them, explains Ostfeld, adding, "Habitat destruction and degradation can reduce the health of these animal hosts which in turn compromises their immunity and allows pathogens to spread."
Jones is also concerned about the clearing of land and the rise in large-scale factory farms. "We now have huge, intensive farms of domestic species which are then interacting with wildlife and those wildlife could be acting as amplifying hosts for many pathogens," said Jones.
"When we house these animals in unsanitary conditions with many other species of animals, we can create ideal conditions for these pathogens to jump to us," Ostfeld added.
How do we reduce the risk of future outbreaks?
Now that humanity is unfortunately acquainted with how dangerous and disruptive a pandemic virus can be, the question is, will we learn from this experience, change our ways and put protective measures in place?
Daszak has a three-point plan he says could help minimize the threat going forward.
First, he suggests launching a global effort to identify viruses in wildlife that could likely emerge in the future. "We estimate there are 1.7 million of them, and we could discover the vast majority (>70%) in a 'Global Virome Project' costing $120 million per year over 10 years," he said. He has already created a 501c3 nonprofit to help fund the project.
Secondly, work with communities in emerging disease hotspots that are on the front lines. Identify the risk behaviors that lead to viruses spilling over from wildlife into the human population and work with these communities to reduce their risk, test for evidence of viruses and stop outbreaks dead in their tracks in the earliest stages. Lastly, he urges working to develop vaccines to prevent not just the diseases we already know about, but also new viruses we discover in wildlife. Ideally, Daszak would like to see a universal coronavirus vaccine to protect against the whole family of viruses.
Ostfeld would like to see a vast increase in the amount of protected land, to help preserve the ability of natural areas to protect us from infectious diseases. He also supports funding for scientists work on the question of how to better use already developed areas to provide food, fiber, and other resources needed by people.
"Habitat destruction and climate change pose myriad threats to our health and well-being. It's not just viruses," explains Ostfeld. "We continue these destructive practices because we prioritize the short-term gains for relatively few of us and ignore the long-term suffering by all the rest of us. It is not impossible to change this false calculus, but we don't have endless time to get it right."
Jeff Berardelli,CBS News•April 1, 2020
About two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans have their origins in animals. Scientists say the ability of a virus to mutate and adapt from animals to the human system is very rare, but the expansion of the human footprint is making that rare event much more likely.
For most people, up until the novel coronavirus took over the headlines, the possibility of a new disease emerging out of nowhere and spreading around the world at a breakneck pace seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. But some members of the scientific community have been sounding the alarm for decades, warning that it was land and livestock farms — is associated with around 30% of known emerging diseases," said Daszak.
The reasons why this disruption of the natural habitat helps spread disease are multifaceted. "Perhaps the most obvious is habitat disturbance can cause the animals to move greater distances, carrying their pathogens with them, explains Ostfeld, adding, "Habitat destruction and degradation can reduce the health of these animal hosts which in turn compromises their immunity and allows pathogens to spread."
Jones is also concerned about the clearing of land and the rise in large-scale factory farms. "We now have huge, intensive farms of domestic species which are then interacting with wildlife and those wildlife could be acting as amplifying hosts for many pathogens," said Jones.
"When we house these animals in unsanitary conditions with many other species of animals, we can create ideal conditions for these pathogens to jump to us," Ostfeld added.
How do we reduce the risk of future outbreaks?
Now that humanity is unfortunately acquainted with how dangerous and disruptive a pandemic virus can be, the question is, will we learn from this experience, change our ways and put protective measures in place?
Daszak has a three-point plan he says could help minimize the threat going forward.
First, he suggests launching a global effort to identify viruses in wildlife that could likely emerge in the future. "We estimate there are 1.7 million of them, and we could discover the vast majority (>70%) in a 'Global Virome Project' costing $120 million per year over 10 years," he said. He has already created a 501c3 nonprofit to help fund the project.
Secondly, work with communities in emerging disease hotspots that are on the front lines. Identify the risk behaviors that lead to viruses spilling over from wildlife into the human population and work with these communities to reduce their risk, test for evidence of viruses and stop outbreaks dead in their tracks in the earliest stages. Lastly, he urges working to develop vaccines to prevent not just the diseases we already know about, but also new viruses we discover in wildlife. Ideally, Daszak would like to see a universal coronavirus vaccine to protect against the whole family of viruses.
Ostfeld would like to see a vast increase in the amount of protected land, to help preserve the ability of natural areas to protect us from infectious diseases. He also supports funding for scientists work on the question of how to better use already developed areas to provide food, fiber, and other resources needed by people.
"Habitat destruction and climate change pose myriad threats to our health and well-being. It's not just viruses," explains Ostfeld. "We continue these destructive practices because we prioritize the short-term gains for relatively few of us and ignore the long-term suffering by all the rest of us. It is not impossible to change this false calculus, but we don't have endless time to get it right."
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