To recover from the devastating impacts of COVID-19, we will need to understand the risks and environmental factors that caused the novel coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases to emerge in the first place, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute. The report, Preventing the Next Pandemic – Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of Transmission, examines the root causes of the COVID-19 pandemic and other zoonotic diseases. It also explores the complex linkages between biological and non-living factors that impact our global ecosystem and spread diseases.

The report also looks at the source of zoonoses (human diseases or infections that are naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans) and how to reduce the likelihood of their recurrence. This report is one of the first to focus on the environmental side of the zoonotic dimension of disease outbreaks during the current pandemic.

As global temperatures continue to rise, illegal wildlife trade grows, and human populations continue to advance into and destroy natural habitats; the likelihood of another global pandemic occurring is imminent. “It is important to recognize that disease emergence is not only about the relationship between domestic animals or wildlife and people, but also about the complexity of the system as a whole,” the authors write. “It is also important to take into account the complex relationship between biodiversity and our mental and physical health, including non-communicable diseases as well as infectious diseases.”

The report offers a snapshot of emerging infectious diseases, and the conditions that lead to the emergence of novel zoonoses. The report calls for taking a One Health approach to managing and preventing zoonoses. One Health aims to achieve optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. To examine the connections between Ebola outbreaks in human and great ape populations, the One Health-based Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) developed protocols to monitor human and wildlife health in the Republic of Congo. The project evaluates the connections between infectious disease transmission and great ape population conservation through a network of African great ape “range states,” and partners in non-range states, and other organizations. According to GRASP research, mapping great apes already exposed to Ebola could help predict future outbreaks in human populations. And public health officials could benefit from the lead time as they prepare for possible human exposure.    

One Health approaches have successfully managed many zoonoses, but they are not free of shortcomings. The omission of gender inequalities for zoonotic disease infection, lack of environmental health initiatives represented in global zoonose prevention and control programs, and concerns that high cost responses may end up costing more than the diseases themselves weaken One Health responses. 

“A major constraint to moving towards a pandemic free world is that most efforts to control infectious diseases are still reactive rather than proactive,” the authors write. The report offers 10 key policy recommendations for businesses, civil society, and policymakers to prevent and respond to future disease outbreaks. They include expanding scientific inquiry into the environmental dimensions of zoonotic diseases, ensuring full cost financial accounting of the societal impacts of disease, and mainstreaming and implementing One Health approaches.  

Read more:

• U.S. national security needs to be recalibrated to factor in environmental change and public health risks.
• To prevent the next global pandemic, exotic wildlife trade and consumption must be addressed.
• Habitat destruction could trigger the next fast-spreading disease.
• A One Health approach protects people, gorillas, and the land they both inhabit.