Preventing the next human virus
Expert says halting illegal trade in wildlife products is one way of curbing deadly outbreaks like Covid-19, writes Sheree Bega
WHEN the novel coronavirus first emerged, US author David Quammen wasn’t surprised.
His 2012 book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, warned how a virus would jump from animals to its first human victims and spread across the planet.
“I was only surprised by one thing when this outbreak happened: how unprepared many countries have been to deal with this, including mine, because there had been warnings and there continued to be warnings.”
Quammen was speaking on a Youtube live stream, facilitated by the Wilderness Foundation and the International Conservation Caucus Foundation with MPS this week to examine the links between the commercial trade of wildlife and disease outbreaks like Covid-19, SARS, HIV and Ebola and to consider steps SA can take to prevent future pandemics.
A decade ago, while researching Spillover, Quammen had spoken to a select group of the world’s best infectious diseases scientists about how the next pandemic would arise. Their responses matched the devastating path of Covid-19.
“When we get the Covid-19 pandemic under control, and hopefully that won’t be too long from now, it’s very important we understand that this pandemic as terrible as it is, is not an independent event. It’s not simply something that has happened to us.
“It reflects things we have been doing to contribute to the likelihood of a pandemic – beginning with our contact with wild animals through hunting, killing and live capture.
“This is what we are doing to cause outbreaks. All the choices we make – what we are going to eat, buy, wear, consume, how many children we have, if we travel, the cellphones we use ... all these factors put pressure on the natural world.
“They draw wild animals towards us and cause humans to enter into highly diverse ecosystems to cut timber, to mine for minerals and to capture and kill wildlife ... We all share in the responsibility.”
Environmental futurist Professor Nick King warned how Covid-19 “isn’t the first and surely won’t be the last zoonotic pandemic that we’re going to see.
“They’re starting to erupt more frequently and the fact that this one came from Asia is largely irrelevant – it could just as easily have happened in Africa. It’s our proximity to and use of animals essentially. So, the next pandemic could arise anywhere. It could arrive in SA. The (coronavirus) transfer from bats to pangolins, as has been proposed, those pangolins could have been illegally trafficked from SA.”
While there have been calls to ban wildlife markets, it’s a complex issue. Many “wet” markets trade a range of fresh produce – some just fruit and vegetables – others sell bat, fish and livestock and sometimes wildlife products too.
“When we have markets where many species of wild and domestic animals are crowded together in unhygienic and highly stressful conditions, they’re often slaughtered right there on the premises, and there are crowds of people, this provides the ideal circumstances for the transmission of disease.”
But bans will be “impossible” without providing food system alternatives for millions who depend on food markets and could ultimately “do more harm than good for biodiversity”, driving trade underground.
“We need to vastly expand our capacity to curtail the illegal trade in wildlife products both in and out of SA as part of our preparation to prevent future pandemics,” said King.
“It’s decimating our unique wildlife, killing our conservation agency staff and making us spend enormous amounts on security to try to prevent this, which all impacts negatively on our economy ... and our tourism potential. As tourism disappears, many rural communities will have to turn to poaching to survive, and this will increase their exposure to these potential diseases.”
SA is a major trafficking hub, particularly OR Tambo International Airport and its ports. “While we’ve been a leader in early lockdown and responding to this pandemic, we also need to be leader in preventing future pandemics occurring and spreading. We could do that by enhancing our security services, customs and border posts...
“We need to provide support during the current pandemic to the tourism sector to enable people to maintain their livelihoods, which have fallen away now that there is no tourism. We need to invest in that sector because it can’t sustain itself and we don’t want it to collapse because it will take decades to build up again. It’s a thriving sector that employs hundreds of thousands of people.”
Ultimately, it’s about humanity’s overall relationship with nature and the natural world. UNEP data, says King, has shown how 80% of biodiversity loss is attributable to mining and industrial agriculture.
“This plays key roles in increasing potential zoonotic disease transmission ... We’ve seen with Covid-19 how we can respond to risks if we must and we really need to respond to the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis in a similar manner because they’re all interlinked. Climate change will make diseases expand their range much quicker ... This pandemic is a real tragedy but we need to use it as a unique opportunity to create a more equitable, sustainable future.”
So, the next pandemic could arise anywhere. It could arrive in SA.
Prof Nic King ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURIST