How to Stop the Next Pandemic
It’s not just Covid-19. Pathogens once confined to nature are making their way into humans on a more regular basis. And it’s our fault.
By Jonah M. Kessel
Sept. 1, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
The pandemic is your fault.
Yes, yours.
If you are avoiding people, wearing a mask and generally following what public health officials tell you to do (even if that has been a moving target), the notion that you have anything to do with why this pandemic occurred may seem ridiculous.
After all, it’s easy to look for blame in others.
You may be pointing your finger at Chinese officials for not acting fast enough. A recent Pew study suggested 78 percent of Americans place “a great deal of the blame for the global spread of the coronavirus on the Chinese government’s initial handling” of the outbreak.
Maybe you blame politicians who have prioritized their political well being over the health of the people they govern? Or are other people’s diets the problem? A dinner party? A beach party? The police?
There is enough blame to go around.
Finding blame in yourself can be a more difficult task. But experts say you have played a role whether you know it or not.
“What we eat, what we wear, all the other kinds of things that we buy, whether we have a cellphone or not, how many children we have (if we have children), how much we travel — all of those choices put varying degrees of pressure on the rest of the natural world,” the pandemic-focused author David Quammen told me in a Zoom interview.
It’s that simple. We’ve created a world where it’s impossible to make choices that don’t impact the natural world.
“The more we disrupt wild, diverse ecosystems, the greater jeopardy we have of contacting all of the very diverse viruses that wild animals carry,” said Mr. Quammen.
Still not convinced? Do you own a cellphone?
“Owning a cellphone makes you a customer for a mineral called coltan,” Mr. Quammen explained
When coltan is refined it makes tantalum. And there’s a trace amount of it inside that phone or computer you are using to read this story. Problem is, it’s only found in a few remote places.
“One of which is a highly diverse forest area in the eastern Democratic Republic of The Congo,” Mr. Quammen continued.
“So when I buy a cellphone, I’m a customer for tantalum and I’m sending a miner into a forest area in eastern Congo. And that miner is probably going to eat bushmeat. So I own a little of the responsibility for the jeopardy that that miner may come in contact with a new virus and spread it to others.”
It’s not just Covid-19. Pathogens once confined to nature are making their way into humans on a more regular basis. And it’s our fault.
By Jonah M. Kessel
Sept. 1, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
The pandemic is your fault.
Yes, yours.
If you are avoiding people, wearing a mask and generally following what public health officials tell you to do (even if that has been a moving target), the notion that you have anything to do with why this pandemic occurred may seem ridiculous.
After all, it’s easy to look for blame in others.
You may be pointing your finger at Chinese officials for not acting fast enough. A recent Pew study suggested 78 percent of Americans place “a great deal of the blame for the global spread of the coronavirus on the Chinese government’s initial handling” of the outbreak.
Maybe you blame politicians who have prioritized their political well being over the health of the people they govern? Or are other people’s diets the problem? A dinner party? A beach party? The police?
There is enough blame to go around.
Finding blame in yourself can be a more difficult task. But experts say you have played a role whether you know it or not.
“What we eat, what we wear, all the other kinds of things that we buy, whether we have a cellphone or not, how many children we have (if we have children), how much we travel — all of those choices put varying degrees of pressure on the rest of the natural world,” the pandemic-focused author David Quammen told me in a Zoom interview.
It’s that simple. We’ve created a world where it’s impossible to make choices that don’t impact the natural world.
“The more we disrupt wild, diverse ecosystems, the greater jeopardy we have of contacting all of the very diverse viruses that wild animals carry,” said Mr. Quammen.
Still not convinced? Do you own a cellphone?
“Owning a cellphone makes you a customer for a mineral called coltan,” Mr. Quammen explained
When coltan is refined it makes tantalum. And there’s a trace amount of it inside that phone or computer you are using to read this story. Problem is, it’s only found in a few remote places.
“One of which is a highly diverse forest area in the eastern Democratic Republic of The Congo,” Mr. Quammen continued.
“So when I buy a cellphone, I’m a customer for tantalum and I’m sending a miner into a forest area in eastern Congo. And that miner is probably going to eat bushmeat. So I own a little of the responsibility for the jeopardy that that miner may come in contact with a new virus and spread it to others.”
An awkward pause took hold as I contemplated Mr. Quammen’s proposal.
“Maybe spread it back to you?” I asked.
“Yes, maybe spread it back to me.”
I was talking to Mr. Quammen while doing research for “How to Stop the Next Pandemic,” a 14-minute Times documentary that ask the questions: Why do pandemics happen? And how do we stop them in the future?
Trends in historical data charting the incidents of new emerging infectious diseases point to a future with more Covid-19-like events, not fewer.
“Yes, they’re increasing over time in direct correlation with human population growth and our ecological footprint,” said Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to protect the public from the emergence of disease.
“Maybe spread it back to you?” I asked.
“Yes, maybe spread it back to me.”
I was talking to Mr. Quammen while doing research for “How to Stop the Next Pandemic,” a 14-minute Times documentary that ask the questions: Why do pandemics happen? And how do we stop them in the future?
Trends in historical data charting the incidents of new emerging infectious diseases point to a future with more Covid-19-like events, not fewer.
“Yes, they’re increasing over time in direct correlation with human population growth and our ecological footprint,” said Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to protect the public from the emergence of disease.
In 2008 he co-authored a study titled “Global trends in emerging infectious diseases,” which showed how emerging infectious disease events “have risen significantly over time.”
“These pandemics have been with us throughout history,” Dr. Daszak said. “But what’s happening now is we’ve globalized the planet, we’ve colonized the planet, and we’re now coming across the last remaining viruses that wildlife carry that we’ve never experienced before.”
If you don’t want to see more Covid-19-like events in the future, I urge you to watch our short film to become more aware of their origins, what role you play in them and most importantly what we can do to stop them.
Before finishing my interview with Dr. Daszak, I cautiously joked, “With Covid-19, is nature sending us a message?”
Dr. Daszak stared at me without smiling.
“Nature didn’t send us this message. We sent it to ourselves,” Dr. Daszak said.
Our consumer habits have changed the planet so significantly that “we dominate every ecosystem on earth right now,” he said.
“And our response is: we blame one country, versus another. We blame people who eat one species over people who eat another. And we blame nature. Well, no, we need to point the finger directly at ourselves, understand what’s going on and change it.”
The call ended.
And just like that, the pandemic was my fault.
Yours too.
Jonah M. Kessel is a visual journalist. He creates explanatory and investigative short-form documentaries and innovative visual journalism. He has reported on the ground from over 25 countries for The Times. @jonah_kessel • Facebook
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