Perhaps because we close our eyes to the reasons (Don’t Look Up moment) or because it sends us back to our own animality, we often forget that we share with non-human animals many viruses, parasites and bacteria. Sometimes this happens without too much difficulty; sometimes it triggers epidemics and pandemics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates at almost 60% the number of emerging diseases of zoonotic origin (ie of non-human animal origin). This figure has been increasing for fifty years. In question? Global changes.
Climate change in the first place, which pushes wild species to migrate. But also deforestation and overpopulation, which create unexpected and more frequent contact between humans and wild animals and which, by attacking biodiversity, suppress what is called the “dilution effect”, supposed to temper the risks. of infection between animal and human species, as well as the overconsumption of antibiotics in intensive farms where antibiotic resistance is developing.
These are all causes that should encourage us to work immediately to preserve the planet and its biodiversity, and demand better veterinary controls of animal breeding, marketing and consumption, research protocols in this area and more environmentally friendly.
From pangolin to bat
Viruses such as influenza, but also many others such as HIV, Ebola, Zika, SARS and SARS-CoV-2 at the origin of Covid-19, have all been transmitted from animals to humans. human to then spread massively and create the tragedies that we know.
There is still speculation about the origin of SARS-CoV-2. We now know that this family coronavirus…