Experts tour the world and take notes on the global spread of zoonotic diseases
One of the biggest surprises of the coronavirus pandemic was how ill-prepared societies were to deal with it. Around the world, governments tried to find the right way to handle the rising number of infections and deaths, but much of the damage was already done. By the time many borders were closed and safety measures imposed, the virus had already spread enough to cause a pandemic.
While we are still in the thick of it, the worst could still be ahead. “Another pandemic could be just around the corner,” ecologist and epidemiologist Christopher Golden says. The words of the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health professor are chilling, but fearmongering is not his intent. Rather, he wants us to be prepared for the next time.
For the better part of the year, Golden, along with ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman and their team have been travelling the world to get a better understanding of how zoonotic diseases – those that are shared between animals and humans, such as Covid-19 and Ebola – become an epidemic.
He has also been trying to identify what lessons can be learnt from previous outbreaks in the hopes of preventing future ones before it’s too late.
Golden’s journey and findings are the focal point of new documentary series Virus Hunters. The show, which premiered on National Geographic Abu Dhabi last month, is now available to stream in full on the National Geographic website.
The series follows Golden and his team as they head to places such as Liberia, where they study the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014, then to southern Turkey, and to Wisconsin and Iowa in the US, where an unusually high number of Covid-19 cases were reported. “To be honest, being in Turkey and Liberia felt so much safer than being in the US Midwest,” Golden says. “Few people there were acting responsibly from a public health standpoint.”
Filming during the coronavirus also wasn’t easy. Some countries they wanted to film in were not open at all, and it became impossible to include some stories. Fortunately, this did not minimise the show’s central message: the coronavirus pandemic should be a wake-up call.
The idea for the documentary series came after director Drew Pulley saw a short film on National Geographic by Golden titled On Our Shoulders. The film showcased Golden’s research in Madagascar that revealed unexpected connections between environmental trends and human health.
“The short film highlighted the ways in which rapidly accelerating humandriven environmental change has led to conflicts with human well-being and public health,” Golden says. “These stories are a general pattern across the globe and telling their stories are so important for us to learn from this history.”
The same is true for Virus Hunters. Golden hopes his findings will help to better prepare us for future pandemics. While the Covid-19 outbreak, he says, could not have been avoided, it certainly could have been dealt with more effectively.
Still, there are lessons to be learnt, he says. Ones that could help minimise the risks of future pandemics or stop them even before they begin.
And it is clear to Golden that there will be future pandemics. He says the widespread transformation of natural environments through deforestation, urbanisation and agricultural expansion has led to increased human encroachment on wild habitats, as well as a growth between humans and wild and domesticated animals. These factors precipitate the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Slowing these down and making them less frequent will require more care for the planet.
“The health of people and the health of the planet are inextricably woven together,” he says. “Without our diligent care for the planet, stewarding natural resources and managing natural systems, we will continue to see the impacts of these pandemics in our future. We cannot expect to maintain public health without considering planetary health.”
Golden says it is vital that we look at the underlying causes of these outbreaks. They are rooted in the way society has transformed and degraded environmental systems. “If we can start to reverse this and conserve the environment, we will see a healthier future.”
Golden hopes his findings will help to better prepare us for future pandemics. And it is clear to him there will be more