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Bloomberg: There will be many more pandemics

Bloomberg: There will be many more pandemics
Bloomberg: There will be many more pandemics

Most governments were unprepared for the coronavirus crisis, although epidemiologists have been warning for decades that a devastating epidemic is right on edge. Starting with the plague and smallpox ending with the Spanish flu and HIV - history is full of pandemics that changed humanity's course, Bloomberg reports.

The article notes that medical advances helped combat these challenges, but other aspects of modern life, such as cutting down forests, urbanization, and intensive agrarian industry, contributed to the emergence of new infections.

Bloomberg writes that there will be many more pandemics in the world. New diseases are spreading worldwide, thanks to the unprecedented development of international trade and air travel.

As for new diseases, an average of three pathogens has appeared in the last four millennia. Seventy-five percent of them transferred to humans from animals. It is believed that the new source of coronavirus, COVID-19, as well as SARS, MERS, Ebola, and several other viruses, come from bats. The danger is even greater due to a large number of bats.

One of the reasons for the emergence of zoonoses is that humans intrude on the natural ecosystem. The global population is growing and exploiting wild areas. In 2017, the area free of people on the planet was reduced by 23 percent.

The second factor is the use of wildlife for food. It increases the volume of trade. Often such animals are slaughtered in violation of sanitary measures. In China, for example, such markets are linked to the spread of the SARS virus.

The third factor is urbanization. Up to 55 percent of the world's population lives in cities. In 1960, that figure was 34 percent.

To avoid pandemics, experts are recommending more effective monitoring and calling for strengthening public health systems. They say the risks to diseases in the animal world need to be assessed in advance to make testing and vaccine prototypes more effective.

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