If we continue the unabated incursion of humans on natural ecosystems, emerging infectious disease experts agree that it is a matter of when, not if, the next pandemic arises. What they fear most is that the next pathogen that spills over from wildlife to humans will cause a disease even more fatal, but with the same ease of asymptomatic human-to-human transmission as SARS-CoV-2. To make the drastic changes needed to avert the next pandemic, a multi-disciplinary One Health approach is essential and the cost of potential pandemics must be considered in development planning:
“A road will facilitate a transport of goods and people and create economic incentive,” Dr Christian Walzer, of WCS tells Kaiser Health News “But it will also provide an interface where people interact and there’s a higher chance of spillover. These kinds of costs have never been considered in the past. And that needs to change.”
Read the full story:
Heading Off the Next Pandemic
