Worse viruses ahead
ZOONOTIC RISK: AFRICA DOWNPLAYS IT BUT CHINA BANS WILDLIFE MEAT
Dangers lie in wildlife utilisation, intensive farming and biodiversity degradation.
From 5G mobile networks to leaked laboratory experiments and houseflies, the mysterious origins of Covid-19 have, over the past year, spurred on some interesting theories.
But scientists are not significantly closer to finding out what caused the global pandemic than when it first emerged in Wuhan, China, in 2019. World Health Organisation investigations have not yet pinpointed the main culprit behind the contagious virus.
Head of China’s expert panel on Covid-19, Liang Wannian, said the coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins were not similar enough to be identified as the progenitor of Sars-CoV-2. He instead suggested that feline species and minks, which have been observed with symptomatic Covid-19, could be the missing link – but this is far from proven.
What was ruled out was the rumour that Covid-19 originated from a “viral escape” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Peter Ben Embarek, who chaired WHO’s investigation team, said this was “extremely unlikely”, with factors pointing to Covid-19 having a natural source. He said the viruses in Wuhan’s laboratory were too genetically different to Sars-CoV-2.
Humane Society International (HSI) Africa vice-president of wildlife Dr Teresa Telecky said most emerging infectious diseases have zoonotic sources and emphasised the importance of Covid-19 being a coronavirus.
“Covid-19 is caused by a virus, Sars-CoV-2, which is like a coronavirus that is very similar to another coronavirus, Sars-CoV, which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).”
This is likely where the leap to blame bats originated, as Sars originated in bats and was transmitted to humans via a wildlife market in China where infected civets were sold. Bats in China carry Sars viruses, Telecky said. And as with Sars-CoV, it took years to make this discovery. Telecky said it would likely “take years” to confirm the original and intermediate host of Sars-CoV-2.
We now know it does more harm than good to blame a specific species for causing Covid-19, especially because as humans are at fault, not animals. Although Telecky found the thinking surrounding Covid-19 and zoonotic diseases has not changed much, she said the pandemic did get a reaction from Chinese authorities, who promptly banned the sale of wildlife for human consumption.
Africa still has a long way to go. Aside from Malawi and Gabon, which banned consumption of bushmeat and pangolins due to the danger in exposing humans to pathogens and zoonosis, the rest of Africa’s informal and unregulated markets continue unabated, said HSI-Africa wildlife director Audrey Delsink.
“Our major concern is that there has been little official acknowledgement of the relationship between Covid-19, and zoonotic risks associated with wildlife utilisation, intensive farming activities and biodiversity degradation.”
This is an urgent call for people to understand how fast zoonotic viruses emerge and that without drastic change, Covid-19 may seem relatively insignificant compared to the viruses of the future.
Little official acknowledgement of relationship