![]() ![]() It reminds us that the COVID-19 crisis should not be used as a pretext for restricting the public’s access to information, and that emergency measures taken by Member States should not undermine EU’s founding values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Council of Europe, 2020). The Council of Europe recently addressed the relationship between pandemics and democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law. More attention is also being paid to these complexities in policy fields outside epidemiology and public health, as health crises like COVID-19 have far-reaching implications for people and society at large. Source: EEA (2020a), adapted from Jones et al. Figure 1 Pathogen flow at the interface between humans, livestock and wildlife This is a stark example of how human health and the natural environment are intertwined. It is also clear that today’s high levels of international trade and travel make pathogens spread faster, as ‘diseases can now move around the world in periods shorter than their incubation periods’ (UNEP, 2020).Īlthough the exact origin and natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown, pandemics like COVID-19 are likely to be the outcome of the mechanisms described above. These include (1) population growth and rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation, (2) increasing demand for animal protein, with a consequent increase in exploitation of wildlife, agricultural intensification and trade, (3) inadequate husbandry practices and (4) poorly managed informal wildlife and fresh produce markets, and industrial meat processing plants (UNEP, 2020). Several interacting drivers underpin the emergence of zoonotic diseases by creating novel and diverse contacts among wildlife, livestock and people. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2020), ‘60 per cent of known infectious diseases in humans and 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic’, while at least six outbreaks of novel coronaviruses were observed in the last century. There is little doubt that new pathogens are often created at the interfaces between wild and domestic animals and humans, and that these sometimes manifest as zoonotic disease (Figure 1). However, today’s globalised societies and economies, and the way we interact with the natural environment, affect the way pandemics develop. Plagues and pandemics have occurred throughout human history (Waltner-Toews, 2020). Pandemics in an age of globalised societies The idea that we are a part of nature and not separate from it is a concept that our sophisticated societies seem to have forgotten. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that our identity is deeply entangled with that of the Earth’s ecosystems. The potential lessons from COVID-19 seem to run deeper than that. These late lessons mainly highlight the need for precautionary approaches and how to strike a balance between desired economic opportunities and uncertain environmental harm. Previous EEA reports describe cases of unintended environmental hazards caused by the use of chemicals or other activities (EEA, 2001, 2013). These lessons can help pave the way towards more resilient and better-prepared societies. The way early warnings of environmental and human hazards emerge, and how they are dealt with, provides us with many ‘late’ lessons (EEA, 2001, 2013). Human progress depends on the ability and willingness to learn from the past. However, following the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the World Health Organization warned that the world would be ‘ill-prepared’ to respond to a severe pandemic threatening public health (WHO, 2011). The possibility of the re-emergence of SARS and other novel viruses from animals or laboratories and therefore the need for preparedness should not be ignored (Cheng et al., 2007, p.683).Ĭoncerns about the risk of pandemics have been raised in the past by various institutions and governments (EEA, 2010, 2015), with some countries developing specific plans and strategies. The presence of a large reservoir of SARS-CoV-like viruses in horseshoe bats, together with the culture of eating exotic mammals in southern China, is a time bomb. They wrote:Ĭoronaviruses are well known to undergo genetic recombination, which may lead to new genotypes and outbreaks. (2007) has been put forward as an example of an early warning. ![]() While there is still no consensus on how the infectious agent SARS-CoV-2 emerged, the study by Cheng et al. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a year of involuntary as well as voluntary change. ![]() This narrative is part of a series called ‘ Narratives for change’ published by the EEA’ COVID-19: a ‘late lesson’ from an early warning? ![]()
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