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Scientists estimate that about two-thirds of known infectious diseases and three-quarters of new or emerging infectious diseases in humans are traceable to animals.
Zoonotic diseases or zoonoses are animal infections that people can
catch. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi transmitted by animals to
other animals like pets, and people, can produce mild to serious illnesses.
Scientists estimate that about two-thirds of known infectious diseases and
three-quarters of new or emerging infectious diseases in humans are
traceable to animals. Direct or indirect contact, and food, water or
vector-borne absorption are the main pathways.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic. SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to
humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. A novel coronavirus
(nCoV) like Covid 19 is a new strain not previously identified in humans.
Other coronaviruses discovered circulating in animals have not yet infected
humans. By now, everyone is familiar with symptoms and preventative
measures, including fraught vaccination. However, as Rob Wallace said at a
ZeroCovid event, “The causes of diseases extend out to our relationships
between each other, and with animals and ecosystems.”
On 18 February 2021, the UN released a a168-page report, Making Peace with
Nature, which states, on page 15, ” The deteriorating state of the planet
undermines efforts to achieve healthy lives and well-being for all. Around
one quarter of the global burden of disease stems from environment-related
risks, including those from animal-borne diseases (such as COVID-19),
climate change, and exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals. Pollution
causes some 9 million premature deaths annually and millions more die every
year from other environment-related health risks.”
In other words, human activities like agriculture, industry and their
by-products often make perfectly healthy people sick, mirroring what is
being inflicted on all life on earth. What good ultimately is a sponge and a
basin of sanitiser to creatures locked in a toxic gas chamber?
The 1993 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has 3 main objectives:
Unfortunately, the second and third objectives may be negating the first.
Publicly broadcast sessions substantiate Greta Thunberg’s comments in a
recent Guardian interview: “Commitments are being made. Distant hypothetical
targets are being set, and big speeches are being given. Yet, when it comes
to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete
denial.”
The World Organisation for Animal Health published a 2014 paper regretting
CBD stasis:
Loss of biodiversity, habitat fragmentation and the loss of natural
environments threaten the full range of life-supporting services provided by
ecosystems at all levels of biodiversity, including species, genetic and
ecosystem diversity. The disruption of ecosystem services has direct and
indirect implications for public health, which are likely to exacerbate
existing health inequities, whether through exposure to environmental
hazards or through the loss of livelihoods. One Health provides a valuable
framework for the development of mutually beneficial policies and
interventions at the nexus between health and biodiversity, and it is
critical that One Health integrates biodiversity into its strategic agenda.
The catastrophe of the 2020 pandemic finally brought home One Health’s
warning about the interdependence of realms. The Global Landscapes Forum had
long been trying to draw attention to this important nexus and the urgent
need for more practical steps. “The One Health approach needs to engage and
receive the contributions of natural resource management professionals
working in ecosystems, biodiversity and wildlife management.”
The concept of One Health evolved from the term One Medicine, first coined
by veterinarian Calvin Schwabe and advocated by Dennis Carroll and others.
In April 2006, Dr. Laura Kahn published the CDC article, Confronting
Zoonoses, Linking Human and Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Bruce Kaplan, and Dr.
Thomas Monath jointed her in 2007 to form the One Health Initiative team and
develop a worldwide strategy to expand interdisciplinary collaborations and
communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the
environment. According to the website, maintained with BioPharma firm
Crozet, “the synergism achieved will advance health care for the 21st
century and beyond by accelerating biomedical research discoveries,
enhancing public health efficacy, expeditiously expanding the scientific
knowledge base, and improving medical education and clinical care.” These
measures clearly derive from a biotechnological paradigm.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) supports the approach. “Many
professionals with a range of expertise who are active in different sectors,
such as public health, animal health, plant health and the environment,
should join forces to support One Health approaches.” However, the WHO’s
hands are somewhat worryingly tied, as only 15 percent of funding comes from
member countries and the rest from donors who can dictate spending. This
compromised position dates to a 1959 agreement with the International Atomic
Agency to suppress information about nuclear radiation risks.
Directing the present healthcare system to generate One Health goals may
simply compound the problem, due to harms it inflicts, soaring greenhouse
gas emissions among them. According to lowtechmagazine.com, “A 2019 research
paper calculated that the sector accounts for 2-10% of national carbon
footprints across all OECD countries, China, and India, with an average
share of 5.5% overall…almost double the share of aviation.” Other failing
health service elements are identified elsewhere. For real remedy, animal,
human and ecology systems under the One Health rubric are not currently fit
for purpose.
Alternative healthcare models include affordable direct primary care
services such as Buurtzorg home nursing in Europe, in comparison to World
Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab’s emphasis on technological fixes in The
Great Reset. Technological fixes, after all, have gotten us into the fine
mess we’re in.
Once this pandemic is under control, rather than cheerlead One Health as
another worthy but empty aspiration left to mystifying experts to implement
or not as they please, we need en masse to go outside, roll up our sleeves
and seriously befriend nature and fellow human beings again, heeding Joanna
Macy’s call: “As we work to heal the Earth, the Earth heals us.”
Return to Food Hazards in Animal Flesh and By-products
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