Outbreaks starting with animals now ‘more likely’

‘The way things have been going, it’s more likely we’ll have zoonotic infections causing outbreaks’

ANIMAL to human disease outbreaks will become more likely in the future, a scientist leading Oxford University’s vaccine development has warned.

Prof Sarah Gilbert said human activity was driving the rising threat, adding the risk is unlikely to diminish in the future as globalisation continues.

“Greater population density, greater travel, deforestation – all of these things make it more likely that these outbreaks will happen and then something will spread,” she told The Independent.

“Because of the way things have been going in the world, it’s more likely we’ll have zoonotic infections causing outbreaks in the future.” Most researchers believe Covid-19 emerged in bats and infected humans via another animal, probably in a market in Wuhan, China. Other deadly diseases such as Ebola, Sars and the West Nile Virus have also originated in animals.

The Oxford project is awaiting results of phase three trials of its vaccine and, if a high level of efficacy is proven, the team hopes it could be available be the end of the year.

Astrazeneca, Oxford’s pharmaceutical partner in the project, has committed to producing two billion doses by next summer.

The vaccine is being trialled in tens of thousands of volunteers in the UK, South Africa, Brazil and the US.

Other vaccines in development have entered into the same stage, and Prof Gilbert said there was a “very good chance” some would prove effective.

“We’ve seen good levels of neutralising antibodies, we’re seeing strong Tcell responses. We expect there to be multiple vaccines,” she told the internet-based paper.