Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
THE upside of the coronavirus pandemic is a greater awareness of biodiversity or species of plants and animal conservation. Nearly all the new infectious diseases that scientists know about originate in animals and so will the emergence of diseases in the years to come. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) began in chimpanzees; SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in bats; and mpox, formerly "monkeypox," influenza in aquatic birds. At some point, the animal pathogens jump the species barrier to humans which experts call a spillover. Spillovers have always occurred, but the rapid environmental change wrecked by humans in recent years has accelerated the spread.
Scientists believe bats are most likely the source of the coronavirus with pangolins also being eyed as transmitters of the pathogens. While China cracked down on wildlife trade after the SARS epidemic in 2003, the emergence of Covid-19 clearly showed a lot needs to be done. Apart from killer diseases traced to animals, the world continues to confront the many problems that are endangering both plants and wildlife.
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