A research paper in Lancet Planet Health suggests that reducing the risk of another pandemic is crucial. The paper argues that the WHO and other organizations have primarily focused on readiness and response rather than prevention.
A Lancet Planet Health study suggests that reducing the risk of zoonotic viruses spreading from animals to humans is the most common-sense way to prevent another pandemic. The Lancet Planet Health article “An immediate way to lower pandemic risk: (not) seizing the low-hanging fruit (bat)” does not mention Disease X, but the authors say that WHO and other major international and philanthropic organizations with significant financial commitments to pandemic prevention have focused on readiness and response rather than prevention.
What is Disease X?
Disease X is a hypothetical unnamed pathogen that could cause a global pandemic, according to the WHO. COVID-19, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola and Marburg viruses, Lassa fever, MERS-CoV and SARS, Nipah and henipaviral diseases, Rift Valley fever, Zika, and “Disease X” are priority diseases. WHO updates and adds to this list as needed, changing methods.
According to a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study, 335 pathogens evolved from 1940 to 2004, with 60% coming from animals and 71% from wildlife. Disease X may develop from a large but limited pool of “unknown” germs, according to the research paper. Pathogen X is likely zoonotic, therefore vigilant surveillance is needed to track its spread across human, animal, and environmental interfaces.
The Lancet Planet Health research paper states that securing remaining forests, tackling commercial wildlife trade, improving livestock agriculture biosecurity, and improving human health and economic stability will take time and resources, but the urgency of the situation requires immediate action.
The authors recommend reducing direct and indirect contact with high-risk species, particularly bats, which are reservoirs for many zoonotic viruses, to limit the possibility of another pandemic. Disease X is not addressed. The authors argue that bats harbor many zoonotic viruses and are consumed by few people worldwide, making them essential for upstream pandemic prevention.
Restricting bat hunting, consumption, and trade; bat guano harvesting, use, and trade; cave tourism; and deforestation for livestock, homesteads, mines, and crop agriculture into bat habitats reduces human interactions with bats. It advises maintaining bat habitats rather than disturbing them, despite their many ecosystem functions including insect control and agricultural pollination.
The authors argue that human actions cause pandemics, not nature. To avoid new and hazardous viruses, urgent behavioral changes are needed, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic’s physical distance.
SARS-CoV-2 presumably started from a bat virus, like prior outbreaks. Mixing animal species in legal and criminal marketplaces allows pathogen transmission. Wildlife trade restrictions have failed, causing many species to become extinct.
The authors argue society must address wildlife consumption and commerce to reduce the likelihood of future pandemics and their terrible effects. Bats are a taxonomic group from which mankind may stand back with minimal inconvenience, respecting their ecological role. Communities harmed by behavioral changes should receive aid and compensation.
The authors argue proactive global effort is needed to ban bat disturbances and allow them to live in their habitats. The authors argue that stopping pandemics at their source is the fairest way to protect humanity, even though the risk mitigation is unknown.
Conclusion
A Lancet Planet Health study suggests that minimizing zoonotic virus-human interaction is the best strategy to prevent another pandemic. The article claims that WHO and other international and charitable organizations have prioritized preparation and response over prevention. Disease X, an undiscovered pathogen, is likely zoonotic and requires continuous observation at human-animal-environment interactions.
To prevent another pandemic, humans must limit direct and indirect contact with high-risk species, especially bats, which are reservoirs for many zoonotic diseases. Bat hunting, consumption, and trade, bat guano harvesting, use, and sale, cave tourism, and habitat encroachment must be restricted. To decrease exposure to novel and hazardous viruses, the authors suggest urgent behavioral adjustments rather than blaming wildlife for pandemics. They urge global action to ban disturbing bats and stop pandemics.
