Question: Consider the following statements:
(1) SARS spreads from civet cats/ pangolin.
(2) Ebola spreads from monkeys and pigs.
Choose the correct:
(a) Only(1)
(b) Only(2)
(c) Both (1) and (2)
(d) None of the above
Answer:(c)
Related facts:
- Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have seen the emergence and outbreaks of multiple zoonotic diseases – infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses that jump from animals to humans.
- Some of them are new to humans, and hence we do not have immunity against them and some are re-emergence of old diseases.
- Studies indicate that the frequency of these outbreaks has increased significantly in the last 20 years.
- We have had three pandemics since 2000 – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, H1N1 (Swine flu) in 2009 and now Covid-19.
Disease and there host:
- SARS and Covid-19 spread from civet cats/ pangolin and bats in China and swine flu from an intensive pig farm in Mexico.
- In between, we have had regional outbreaks of bird flu from poultry,
- The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) from camels,
- Ebola from monkeys and pigs,
- Rift Valley fever from livestock,
- West Nile fever from birds,
- Zika from monkey and
- Nipah from bats.
Cause:
- The root cause of all the above diseases can be broadly put under three baskets:
- Environmental destruction-
- Due to deforestation and habitat loss, wild animals and humans are now nearby, leading to the spillover of animal diseases into humans. e.g.Ebola, West Nile virus, Nipah and Zika.
2.Cultural practices-
- The practice of eating exotic wildlife, sometimes raw, is spreading novel pathogens to humans.
- Both SARS and Covid-19 have origin in the wildlife markets in China.
- But the practice of eating wild animals is not restricted to China; it exists in one form or another across the world.
3.Intensive animal farms-
- The industrial farming of animals, by keeping animals very close to each other and pumping them with growth promoters like antibiotics, is another cause. e.g.Bird flu and swine flu .