How to Prevent the Next Global Pandemic
The United Nations Environment Programme has published a report aimed at policy makers on how to prevent another global pandemic which describes zoonotic diseases and how to break their chain of transmission.
“People look back to the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 and think that such disease outbreaks only happen once in a century,” says Maarten Kappelle, the head of scientific assessments at UNEP. “But that’s no longer true. If we don’t restore the balance between the natural world and the human one, these outbreaks will become increasingly prevalent.”
60% of the 1,400 microbes known to infect humans originated in animals.
The report identifies 10 key messages for decision makers.