As the world is still grappling with the immense human cost of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) partnered with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to publish the landmark report ”Preventing the Next Pandemic: zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission”. Johannes Refisch, GRASP Coordinator and one of UNEP’s focal points for zoonotic diseases, co-authored the report, a special volume of UNEP’s Frontiers report series.
The report synthesizes available knowledge and new science on zoonoses, a type of disease that transmits between animals and humans. As noted in the 2016 Frontiers reports’ chapter on zoonoses, 60% of all infectious diseases in humans are zoonoses, and 75% of all emerging infectious diseases come to us via animals. Examples of zoonotic diseases that emerged or re-emerged recently include Ebola, HIV/AIDS, SARS and Anthrax. It is estimated that, in recent decades (without including the current COVID-19 pandemic), emerging diseases of zoonotic origin had a direct cost of more than USD100 billion.
There is increasing evidence that the emergence of zoonoses is closely linked to the destruction and degradation of ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, increased human demand for animal protein, unsustainable utilization of natural resources, land-use change and extractive industries increase the points of contact between humans and wildlife and are listed as key anthropogenic drivers for promoting the spread of viruses. Growing evidence also suggests that outbreaks of diseases may become more frequent as climate continues to accentuate the drivers of ecosystem degradation. However, important knowledge gaps still exist regarding the interlinkages between habitat loss, wildlife trade and use, and zoonotic spillover. Often, monitoring of wildlife and human health start after the crisis, as was the case with Ebola in Central Africa. There is a need to develop disease monitoring programmes at different stages of development, starting in intact ecosystems, in order to establish baselines.
GRASP is closely following the development of the COVID- 19 pandemic in great ape range states. Human respiratory pathogens have been transmitted to great ape populations in the past, sometimes causing extensive mortality. Whether ape morbidity and mortality associated with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could be similar to that in humans is still unknown. Governments, policymakers, conservationists, researchers and great ape tourism professionals have taken strong actions to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 being introduced in endangered ape populations. Protected area authorities in Africa and Asia are cautiously assessing the reopening of great ape tourism sites. The Primate Specialist Group, Section on Great Apes, and the Wildlife Health Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) refer in a joint statement of 15 March 2020 to best practice guidelines for great ape tourism and health monitoring and disease control in great ape populations.
The full Frontiers report can be found here.
