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The world is heading towards another pandemic

The world is heading towards another pandemic

As the Covid-19 pandemic is heading for a vaccine deal that it is expected to miss, many emerging infectious disease experts are already focused on preventing the next pandemic.

They fear that another virus will be transmitted from wildlife to humans, a virus that could be far more deadly but spreads as easily as SARS-CoV-2, the type of coronavirus that causes Covid-19 disease. Such a virus could change the trajectory of life on the planet, experts say.

"What keeps me awake at night is the possibility that another coronavirus like MERS, which has a much higher mortality rate, could become as transmissible as Covid-19," said Kristian Valzer, chief health officer at Wildlife Conservation Society.

SARS-CoV-2 has an average mortality rate of less than 1 percent, while the mortality rate for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) - which spreads from camels to humans - is 35 percent. Other viruses that have overcome the species barrier for humans, such as Nipah produced by bats, have a mortality rate of up to 75 percent.

"There is a huge variety of viruses in nature, so there is a possibility that someone may have pre-symptomatic transmission characteristics with a high fatality rate," said Raina Plourajt, a virus researcher at the Bozeman Disease Ecological Laboratory in Montana, USA. .

That is why in November 2020, the German Federal Foreign Office and the Society for the Conservation of Wildlife, organized a virtual conference called "One Planet, One Health, One Future", which aimed to prevent the next pandemic, helping world leaders to realize that killer viruses like SARS-CoV-2 - and many other less deadly pathogens - have been released into the world by the destruction of nature.

The Society for the Conservation of Wildlife - the oldest organization of its kind in the United States founded in 1895 - has joined 20 other similar groups to urge government leaders to "prioritize the protection of untouched forests and ecosystems." "and end the wildlife trade," they said in a press release.

Experts predict that the implementation of these measures will cost about $ 700 billion. Covid-19, on the other hand, is estimated to have caused the world $ 26 trillion in economic damage. The growing invasion of natural environments, as the global population is growing rapidly, makes it another deadly pandemic and much worse than Covid-19.

Përhapja e viruseve shtazore ose zoonotike tek njerëzit, shkakton rreth 75 për qind të sëmundjeve infektive në zhvillim. Por shumë viruse të panjohura, disa ndoshta shumë patogjene, banojnë në faunën e egër në të gjithë botën. Ekspertët e sëmundjeve infektive, vlerësojnë se në natyrë ka 1.67 milion viruse; dhe vetëm rreth 4.000 prej tyre janë identifikuar.

Viruset që kanë qarkulluar dhe pësuar mutacione në jetën e egër, sidomos nga lakuriqët e natës, që janë të shumtë në të gjithë botën dhe shumë të lëvizshëm, hidhen tek njerëzit, ku gjejnë një sistem imunitar të ndjeshëm, dhe shkaktojnë një shpërthim epidemik vdekjeprurës të sëmundjes infektive.

"We have delved deeper into ecological areas that we have not explored before," said Denis Caroll, an infectious disease expert at the US Agency for International Development. He is leading a project to catalog viruses in the wild in order to predict who might cause the next pandemic.

"The sectors to be monitored are profitable industries such as oil, gas, minerals, and agricultural expansion. "These are the main areas from which the next pandemic may have originated." / Medicalxpress

* Received from Bota.al