Op-Ed: COVID-19 shows that what we’re doing to animals is killing us, too
4 years, 9 months ago

Op-Ed: COVID-19 shows that what we’re doing to animals is killing us, too

LA Times  

Scientists suspect that COVID-19 is caused by a virus that jumped from bats to humans through wildlife sold at a live animal market. About two-thirds of emerging infectious diseases in humans — including COVID-19, SARS, MERS, Ebola, HIV, Zika, H1N1, cholera and almost all recent epidemics — came from animals. As 7.8 billion people on this planet radically alter ecosystems and raise, capture and trade animals at an unprecedented scale, “the road from animal microbe to human pathogen” has turned into a “highway,” as the journalist Sonia Shah has written. “For getting new viruses to emerge, you couldn’t do it much better even if you tried.” China is not alone in creating ideal conditions for diseases to spill over species barriers.

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History of this topic

Are we on the brink of another pandemic? Chinese researchers think so
1 month ago

Are we on the brink of another pandemic? Chinese researchers think so

Firstpost  

Chinese scientists have said that a strain of a bird flu from 2021 has the potential to lead to a new pandemic Chinese researchers have said that the world could be close to having another pandemic in the near future. Even as the memories of the Covid-19 pandemic are afresh in many people’s mind, which emerged in China’s Wuhan, Chinese …

Letters to the Editor: A doctor’s fear that we’re careening toward a bird flu disaster
1 month ago

Letters to the Editor: A doctor’s fear that we’re careening toward a bird flu disaster

LA Times  

Bird flu outbreaks at dairy farms are sparking fears of a major threat to human health. To the editor: As a retired public health and emergency medicine physician, I want to thank you for your recent articles about the bird flu, most recently those articles by Times reporters Susanne Rust and Melissa Gomez. The combination of a mutating and potentially …

Biodiversity Summit: Lessons from Covid Offer a Warning for the Future
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Biodiversity Summit: Lessons from Covid Offer a Warning for the Future

The Hindu  

Experts and activists at the COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, urge world leaders to learn the lessons from the estimated seven million lives lost to Covid and thousands more due to Ebola. They propose a biodiversity and health action plan that includes commitments to limit harmful agriculture and forestry, reduce the use of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals damaging …

As California bird flu outbreak worsens, a Missouri patient who caught it is alarming experts
2 months, 4 weeks ago

As California bird flu outbreak worsens, a Missouri patient who caught it is alarming experts

Salon  

The H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, has created an enduring crisis this year, massacring millions of birds and other wild animals, while stirring outbreaks in dairy farms across the U.S. As the number of confirmed bird flu cases continues to climb in various states across the country, many public health experts are anxiously awaiting results from testing performed …

Dozens of viruses detected in Chinese fur farm animals
4 months ago

Dozens of viruses detected in Chinese fur farm animals

The Hindu  

Dozens of viruses have been detected mixing in animals at fur farms in China, some of which are new and have the potential to spill over into humans, researchers said on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. Virologist Edward Holmes, who has led research into Covid-19, told AFP he felt that the global fur farming industry “is one most likely ways by …

Humans give more viruses to animals than they give us, study finds
9 months, 1 week ago

Humans give more viruses to animals than they give us, study finds

Hindustan Times  

Some of the deadliest diseases to stalk humankind have come from pathogens that jumped from animals to people. "This really highlights our enormous impact on the environment and the animals around us," said Cedric Tan, a doctoral student in computational biology at the University College London Genetics Institute, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature …

Michael Gove suggests to Covid-19 inquiry that virus was ‘man-made’
1 year, 1 month ago

Michael Gove suggests to Covid-19 inquiry that virus was ‘man-made’

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Asked about shortcomings in preparedness for a new virus, the senior Tory said: “There …

Disease X: Potential global pandemic 20 times deadlier than COVID
1 year, 3 months ago

Disease X: Potential global pandemic 20 times deadlier than COVID

Op India  

With COVID-19 evolving into a persistent and increasingly known health challenge, global healthcare experts are now preparing for a possible emergence of “Disease X.” They warn that this novel virus could potentially yield an impact that can be twice that of the catastrophic pandemic Spanish Flu of 1918-1920. Today, we could expect a similar death toll from one of the …

With climate change, tackling new disease scenarios
1 year, 3 months ago

With climate change, tackling new disease scenarios

The Hindu  

In its latest report released this March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivers a stark warning: climate change heightens the global risk of infectious diseases. Climate change, more infections Habitat loss forces disease-carrying animals to encroach upon human territory, increasing the risk of human-animal interaction and the transfer of pathogens from wildlife to humans. Mitigating the spread of climate …

Leave bats alone in their habitats for a pandemic-free future, says study
1 year, 7 months ago

Leave bats alone in their habitats for a pandemic-free future, says study

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: Scientists make the case that pandemic prevention requires a global taboo or ban whereby mankind agreed to leave bats alone, to let them have the habitats they need, undisturbed, in a study published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. We must change humanity's relationship with nature if we want to prevent the next pandemic of zoonotic origin …

WHO, Believes Disease X Could Create A Pandemic Like Situation, All You Need To Know
1 year, 7 months ago

WHO, Believes Disease X Could Create A Pandemic Like Situation, All You Need To Know

News 18  

As the world gradually returns to a sense of normalcy following the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the scientific and public health communities remain steadfast in their preparations for future outbreaks and pandemics. As the global community reflects on the challenges and lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the pursuit of knowledge and preventive measures against future outbreaks …

New study suggests possibility humans introduced COVID-19 to animals
1 year, 9 months ago

New study suggests possibility humans introduced COVID-19 to animals

China Daily  

Humans infected by the COVID-19 virus may have introduced the novel coronavirus to susceptible animals at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where the first COVID-19 cases were reported, Chinese researchers said on Saturday. Tong Yigang, dean of the College of Life Science and Technology at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said in a press briefing that no …

America is 'fundamentally unprepared' for zoonotic diseases
1 year, 10 months ago

America is 'fundamentally unprepared' for zoonotic diseases

Daily Mail  

With the US teetering on the brink of nuclear war with Russia and gloomy warnings about climate change, many believe these events could end the human race. In an editorial published today, they claimed America is 'fundamentally unprepared', despite the Covid pandemic being so fresh in people's minds, as well as the recent bird flu and Marburg virus outbreak scares. …

WHO Says Covid-19 Remains 'Global Health Emergency'
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO Says Covid-19 Remains 'Global Health Emergency'

News 18  

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be a “global health emergency” and the deadly virus will remain a “permanently established pathogen” in humans and animals for the foreseeable future, according to the World Health Organisation. “Three years ago today, I declared a public health emergency of international concern over the global spread of COVID-19 – the highest level of alarm under …

Covid still an emergency but nearing 'inflection' point, says WHO chief
1 year, 11 months ago

Covid still an emergency but nearing 'inflection' point, says WHO chief

India Today  

The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an “inflexion point” where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths. Speaking at the opening of WHO’s annual executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “there is no doubt that we’re in …

WHO: COVID still an emergency but nearing ‘inflection’ point
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO: COVID still an emergency but nearing ‘inflection’ point

Associated Press  

GENEVA — The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an “inflexion point” where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths. Speaking at the opening of WHO’s annual executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “there is no doubt that …

COVID is still a global emergency but may be nearing an ‘inflection point,’ WHO says
1 year, 11 months ago

COVID is still a global emergency but may be nearing an ‘inflection point,’ WHO says

LA Times  

COVID-19 remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found that the pandemic may be nearing an “inflection point” where higher levels of immunity can lower coronavirus-related deaths. Speaking at the opening of the WHO’s annual executive board meeting, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “there is no doubt that we’re …

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics
1 year, 11 months ago

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics

The Quint  

The costly lesson from COVID: why elimination should be the default global strategy for future pandemics Getty Images Imagine it is 2030. An upgraded pandemic response to eliminate at source The process by which the WHO currently decides whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern has drawn criticism for being too slow. Elimination makes sense for other …

Covid-19 variants still transmissible between species, finds new study
2 years, 1 month ago

Covid-19 variants still transmissible between species, finds new study

Hindustan Times  

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still highly transmissible between mammals, according to a study based on computer simulations. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, show how the viral spike proteins in several SARS-CoV-2 variants interact with the host cell receptors known as ACE2 in both humans and various bats of genus Rhinolophus. "We were hoping to see …

Report authored by disgraced Peter Daszak says animal to human transmission was most likely scenario
2 years, 2 months ago

Report authored by disgraced Peter Daszak says animal to human transmission was most likely scenario

Daily Mail  

A report co-authored by disgraced scientist Dr Peter Daszak has claimed there is ‘no evidence’ Covid was created in a laboratory. A leaked email from 2020 showed Dr Daszak seeming to express gratitude to Dr Fauci for downplaying the theory that the Covid-19 was created in a lab in Wuhan, China Dr Daszak is considered a potential orchestrator of the …

Khosta-2 virus raises alarm; nothing to fear: Scientists
2 years, 3 months ago

Khosta-2 virus raises alarm; nothing to fear: Scientists

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Scientists finding Khosta-2, a kind of coronavirus which can infect humans, in Russian bats, has raised concerns globally on the possibility of the virus infecting humans. Dr Kiran Madhala, HoD, critical care department, Nizamabad government hospital, said many viruses have jumped from animals to humans, like the Ebola virus and monkeypox. But viruses cannot directly infect humans, they have …

Vaccine-resistant new COVID-like virus discovered in Russian bats could infect humans, finds study
2 years, 3 months ago

Vaccine-resistant new COVID-like virus discovered in Russian bats could infect humans, finds study

Firstpost  

Washington: A newS-CoV-2-like virus discovered in Russian bats is capable of infecting humans, and is resistant to current vaccines against COVID-19, a study has found. A team led by researchers at Washington State University, US, found spike proteins from the bat virus, named Khosta-2, can infect human cells and is resistant to both the antibody therapies and blood serum from …

Bat coronaviruses silently infect tens of thousands of people each year, posing pandemic risk, study warns
2 years, 4 months ago

Bat coronaviruses silently infect tens of thousands of people each year, posing pandemic risk, study warns

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy There may be an average of over 65,000 cases of bat coronaviruses silently infecting people …

COVID-19 endemic stage two years away, Yale School of Medicine study suggests
2 years, 6 months ago

COVID-19 endemic stage two years away, Yale School of Medicine study suggests

The Hindu  

The COVID-19 disease may reach endemic stage in the U.S. in at least two years, according to a modelling study conducted in rats. To develop a better understanding of when and how COVID-19 might become endemic, researchers at the Yale School of Medicine in the U.S. turned to rats, which, like humans, are also susceptible to coronaviruses. However, the study …

Covid virus likely leaked from Wuhan lab: WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus
2 years, 6 months ago

Covid virus likely leaked from Wuhan lab: WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus

India TV News  

Highlights Most likely explanation for Covid was a catastrophic accident at laboratory in Wuhan, says WHO chief Publicly, the UN health agency maintains that "all hypotheses remain on the table" At the beginning of the Covid, WHO was criticised for its deferential approach to China Just days after saying that the Covid lab leak theory needs "further investigations", the World …

COVID origins: WHO ‘open to any and all scientific evidence’
2 years, 7 months ago

COVID origins: WHO ‘open to any and all scientific evidence’

Al Jazeera  

UN health agency says latest investigation into origins of COVID-19 was inconclusive and more research must be done, including the possibility of a laboratory accident. That stance by the World Health Organization expert group marks a sharp reversal of the UN health agency’s initial assessment of the pandemic’s origins, when it concluded last year it was “extremely unlikely” that COVID-19 …

Pathogens Jumping to Humans from Animals Becoming More Frequent, Warns WHO
2 years, 7 months ago

Pathogens Jumping to Humans from Animals Becoming More Frequent, Warns WHO

News 18  

Outbreaks of endemic diseases such as monkeypox and lassa fever are becoming more persistent and frequent, the World Health Organization’s emergency director, Mike Ryan, warned on Wednesday. As climate change contributes to rapidly changing weather conditions like drought, animals, and humans are changing their behavior, including food-seeking habits. As a result of this "ecologic fragility", pathogens that typically circulate in …

Why pangolins may not be the intermediate host
2 years, 7 months ago

Why pangolins may not be the intermediate host

The Hindu  

The origin debate on novel coronavirus is yet to be settled. However, the scientists were not able to find infectious pangolin coronavirus in organs other than the respiratory system and brain, which is different from hamsters infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Viral shedding by hamsters infected with pangolin coronavirus lasted for three days, while hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 shed virus for …

Hotter Climate Could Cause Spread of Thousands of Viruses from Animals to Humans, Study Predicts
2 years, 8 months ago

Hotter Climate Could Cause Spread of Thousands of Viruses from Animals to Humans, Study Predicts

News 18  

The world has seen how the novel coronavirus that jumped into humans wreaked an unprecedented havoc across countries in the last two years. Now, a new modelling study has estimated how the ongoing climate change could further raise the risk of such infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans in the coming years, especially in Southeast Asia. “We need to …

Is Covid-19 endemic yet? Experts aren’t so sure
2 years, 8 months ago

Is Covid-19 endemic yet? Experts aren’t so sure

CNN  

This is the weekly edition of CNN’s coronavirus newsletter. “I think we’ve done a huge disservice using the word ‘endemic,’ frankly,” Michael Fraser, executive director of the US Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told an audience of mostly public health officers during a panel discussion at the 2022 Preparedness Summit in Atlanta on Thursday. “We tend to think …

COVID-19: The endless search for the origins of the virus
2 years, 9 months ago

COVID-19: The endless search for the origins of the virus

Al Jazeera  

Two years after a pandemic was declared, scientists continue to debate how the coronavirus behind COVID-19 came to infect humans. “It isn’t fantastical to say there’s a cover-up.” For Chan and all those who argue that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could have originated from a lab, so long as an intermediary animal host that had passed the virus from bats to …

Humans may give viruses to animals in ‘spillback’ events more often than previously thought
2 years, 9 months ago

Humans may give viruses to animals in ‘spillback’ events more often than previously thought

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, …

Humans have given wild animals diseases nearly 100 times, study says
2 years, 9 months ago

Humans have given wild animals diseases nearly 100 times, study says

Daily Mail  

It's widely believed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid, was spread from wild animals to humans. These pathogens likely spread from humans to wild animals in multiple ways, such as wild animals' contact with human sewage. A spillover describes a virus's jump from another species, while a spillback is the virus going from humans back into wild animals Pictured …

Omicron found in deer: Previous cases of COVID in animals, impact on humans
2 years, 10 months ago

Omicron found in deer: Previous cases of COVID in animals, impact on humans

Firstpost  

In August, the US government said it found the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in wild deer in Ohio, expanding the list of animals known to have tested positive for the disease The discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in a white-tailed deer in New York has left scientists concerned that the deer species could become host of a …

Origins of virus responsible for Covid-19 traced to horseshoe bats
2 years, 10 months ago

Origins of virus responsible for Covid-19 traced to horseshoe bats

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It is clear that recombination is a defining feature of SARS-related coronaviruses and essential …

Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next
2 years, 11 months ago

Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next

Wired  

In the first days of the new year, on the marshy coastal edge of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, a hunter shot an American widgeon, a rusty-fronted duck with a pale beak and a brilliant green stripe. The news of what was in the sample percolated through a pyramid of agencies, and on January 14 the US Department of Agriculture revealed why …

Covid-19 marches toward endemic status in US as Omicron spreads
3 years ago

Covid-19 marches toward endemic status in US as Omicron spreads

Live Mint  

The Omicron variant’s aggressive advance is the latest twist in the course of a disease that public-health experts say is on a path toward becoming endemic in the U.S. “I don’t think there’s going to be a day where the whole thing feels over," said Joshua Schiffer, an associate professor in the vaccine and infectious disease division at Fred Hutchinson …

Explained: Why COVID vaccines are partially effective against omicron
3 years ago

Explained: Why COVID vaccines are partially effective against omicron

The Hindu  

The new coronavirus omicron variant has spread rapidly around the world. But at the same time, Fauci also made it clear that this is not certain and cautioned about making judgments on whether omicron is less dangerous or really causes less severe disease than delta. Not only does the virus multiply more, but the omicron variant also has the "stupidest …

Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on COVID’s animal origins
3 years ago

Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on COVID’s animal origins

Associated Press  

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in mystery. “The lab-leak scenario gets a lot of attention, you know, on places like Twitter,” but “there’s no evidence that this virus was in a lab,” said University of Utah scientist Stephen Goldstein, who with 20 others wrote an article in the …

Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on covid’s animal origins
3 years ago

Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on covid’s animal origins

Live Mint  

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in mystery. “The lab-leak scenario gets a lot of attention, you know, on places like Twitter,” but “there’s no evidence that this virus was in a lab,” said University of Utah scientist Stephen Goldstein, who with 20 others wrote an article in the …

Column: A new research paper adds to the evidence that COVID-19 came from animals, not a Chinese lab
3 years, 1 month ago

Column: A new research paper adds to the evidence that COVID-19 came from animals, not a Chinese lab

LA Times  

Medical staff help a patient walk into the hospital in Wuhan, China, in January 2020 as the pandemic was beginning. A new peer-reviewed research paper points to the likelihood that the COVID-19 pandemic originated at a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, China, rather than from a Chinese laboratory studying bat viruses. Worobey’s finding that the earliest identified COVID-19 cases …

Scientists find 18 more viruses from China's wet markets
3 years, 1 month ago

Scientists find 18 more viruses from China's wet markets

India TV News  

Highlights The origins of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been linked with a seafood market in Wuhan The first cases of SARS-CoV-2 likely emerged from animal to human transmission at Wuhan's wet market An international team of scientists has identified 18 mammalian viruses, which pose high risk to humans and domestic animals, from China's infamous wet markets. China has maintained …

China's wildlife is a pandemic waiting to happen,' study finds
3 years, 1 month ago

China's wildlife is a pandemic waiting to happen,' study finds

Deccan Chronicle  

Wildlife species sold in wet markets in China were linked to the emergence of SARS and Covid-19. A study of more than a dozen species of game animals traded, sold and commonly consumed as exotic food in China identified 71 mammalian viruses, including 18 deemed “potentially high-risk” to people and domestic animals. “This study highlights exactly why the wildlife trade …

Origins of Covid-19 may never be known, says US intelligence agencies
3 years, 2 months ago

Origins of Covid-19 may never be known, says US intelligence agencies

India Today  

US intelligence agencies said on Friday they may never be able to identify the origins of COVID-19, as they released a new, more detailed version of their review of whether the coronavirus came from animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab. Former Republican President Donald Trump - who lost his bid for re-election as the deadly pandemic ravaged the U.S. …

Scientists find bats with Covid-like viruses in Laos caves
3 years, 3 months ago

Scientists find bats with Covid-like viruses in Laos caves

India Today  

Scientists have discovered another clue to the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19, with bats living in caves in Laos found to be carrying a similar pathogen that experts suggest could potentially infect humans directly. Researchers from France's Pasteur Institute and the National University of Laos said their findings showed that viruses genetically close to the SARS-CoV-2 virus "exist …

Cambodia bat researchers on mission to track Covid-19 origins
3 years, 3 months ago

Cambodia bat researchers on mission to track Covid-19 origins

India Today  

Researchers are collecting samples from bats in northern Cambodia in a bid to understand the coronavirus pandemic, returning to a region where a very similar virus was found in the animals a decade ago. "We hope that the result from this study can help the world to have a better understanding about Covid-19," field coordinator Thavry Hoem told Reuters, as …

Why The World Should Be More Than A Bit Worried About India's Nipah Virus Outbreak
3 years, 3 months ago

Why The World Should Be More Than A Bit Worried About India's Nipah Virus Outbreak

NPR  

Why The World Should Be More Than A Bit Worried About India's Nipah Virus Outbreak Enlarge this image toggle caption C.K. "It's really difficult to establish the cause of the boy's illness," says Dr. Thekkumkara Surendran Anish, associate professor of community medicine at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram. "We have a very clear understanding of how Nipah virus moves …

Coronavirus carrying animals sold at Wuhan wet markets for years, finds study
3 years, 4 months ago

Coronavirus carrying animals sold at Wuhan wet markets for years, finds study

India TV News  

Animals known as carriers of coronaviruses were sold at local wet markets for years, finds a new study supporting the theory that the Covid-19 is the result of virus jumping from animals to humans. Researchers from the Chinese government's Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation, the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of British Columbia …

AMR can usher a pandemic worse than Covid-19, suggest Experts
3 years, 5 months ago

AMR can usher a pandemic worse than Covid-19, suggest Experts

India TV News  

The indiscriminate usage of antibiotics to treat Covid-19 patients is likely to make antimicrobial resistance the next big public health crisis in India and globally, said experts on Thursday. The World Health Organization identifies AMR as one of the significant threats to global health and estimates that it will contribute to 10 million deaths by 2050. Calling for harmonized action …

COVID-19 origins: China rejects WHO proposal to return to Wuhan
3 years, 5 months ago

COVID-19 origins: China rejects WHO proposal to return to Wuhan

Al Jazeera  

China has rejected a proposal from the World Health Organization that the expert team investigating the origins of COVID-19 should return to the sites in China where the coronavirus first emerged, saying researchers should instead make a priority of the “very likely” possibility that the virus originated in animals and expand their work to other countries around the world. Speaking …

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