Human activity raises risk of more pandemics like Covid-19, warns UN report
- Trade in wild animals, current farming practices and environmental degradation all raise the risk of diseases jumping from animals to humans, according to study
- Experts warn that more diseases could make the leap unless more effort is taken to protect the environment
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute said Covid-19 was only the latest in a growing number of diseases – including Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome, West Nile fever and Rift Valley fever – whose spread from animals to humans had been intensified by human activity.
The report, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission”, found that the increase in the number of zoonotic diseases – caused when a pathogen jumps from animals to humans – is driven by the “destruction of our natural environment – through land degradation, wildlife exploitation, resource extraction and climate change”.
“The science is clear that if we keep exploiting wildlife and destroying our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these diseases jumping from animals to humans in the years ahead,” said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.
“Pandemics are devastating to our lives and our economies, and as we have seen over the past months, it is the poorest and the most vulnerable who suffer the most. To prevent future outbreaks, we must become much more deliberate about protecting our natural environment.”
Every year some 2 million people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, died from neglected zoonotic diseases, the report said.