[Extract:] We know the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to very similar viruses in bats, possibly passed to humans via an intermediate species such as pangolins. The chance of a similar pandemic breaking out in Australia might seem far-fetched. But in fact, we tick all the boxes

Laurance, Bill

Van Oosterzee, Penny

English

ResearchOnline at James Cook University

3/6/20, 6(29 pmThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt in your backyardPage 1 of 5https://theconversation.com/the-next-global-health-pandemic-could-easily-erupt-in-your-backyard-138861AuthorsPenny van OosterzeeAdjunct Associate Professor James CookUniversity and University Fellow CharlesDarwin University, James Cook UniversityBill LauranceDistinguished Research Professor andAustralian Laureate, James Cook UniversityAcademic rigour, journalistic flairWe know the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to very similar viruses in bats, possiblypassed to humans via an intermediate species such as pangolins. The chance of a similarpandemic breaking out in Australia might seem far-fetched. But in fact, we tick all the boxes.Hotspots for emerging infectious diseases exist where human activities collide with arichness of animal species – and hence, high rates of microbial biodiversity.Facts matter. Make a tax deductible donation today.DonateFlickrThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt inyour backyardJune 2, 2020 2.47pm AEST3/6/20, 6(29 pmThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt in your backyardPage 2 of 5https://theconversation.com/the-next-global-health-pandemic-could-easily-erupt-in-your-backyard-138861Read more: Most laws ignore ‘human-wildlife conflict’. This makes us vulnerable to pandemicsAs research has shown, Australia is such a place. Across the continent, particularly the east coast,natural landscapes have been severely damaged by human activity such as land clearing and mismanagement of river systems. This has led to forest loss, drying wetlands, biodiversity decline andbushfires.All animals harbour viruses and other pathogens. And when environmental pressures force animals intocontact with humans, the results can be catastrophic.A world of diseaseIn humans, around three-quarters of all emerging infectious diseases are spread by non-humans. A newinfectious disease emerges in humans every four months.In Africa, the Ebola virus resulted from human contact with fruit bats, and AIDS was caused by apathogen that jumped from non-human primates during road-building.In the United States, Lyme disease is caught from deer ticks. And the brain-damaging Nipah virusA tree pangolin at night in Gabon, Africa. Bill Laurance, Author provided (No reuse)3/6/20, 6(29 pmThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt in your backyardPage 3 of 5https://theconversation.com/the-next-global-health-pandemic-could-easily-erupt-in-your-backyard-138861originated in Malaysia after bats infected pigs, which passed the disease to farmers.In China and elsewhere, the deforestation of pangolin habitat makes them easy targets for hunters and poachers, who covet the animals for their meat and scales.Australia is not immuneIn Australia, a 2013 review found at least 20 human diseases associated with disturbed naturalenvironments between 1973 and 2010. They include:Hendra virus: This virulent disease first broke out at a racing stable in Hendra, Brisbane in 1994. Itcauses catastrophic neurological and respiratory symptoms in horses, and more than 100 died. Sevenpeople have been infected, four of whom died.The virus is endemic to Australian flying foxes. It spilled over to people via horses who ate pasturecontaining flying-fox urine. Habitat loss forced flying foxes to move close to humans to find food.West Nile virus: This causes brain inflammation and death in humans, horses and birds. An endemicstrain in Australia is transmitted by mosquitoes from wild birds. In 2011 an outbreak affected about 900 horses in southeastern Australia of which about ten per cent died.The virus emerged in Australia unexpectedly, probably due to changed environmental conditions such asclimate change and habitat clearing.Australian bat lyssavirus: this rabies-like virus can be transmitted from bats to humans, causing serious illness leading to paralysis, delirium, convulsions and death.Biosecurity officers taking a swab from a horse during the 2008 Hendra virus outbreak. Dave Hunt/AAP3/6/20, 6(29 pmThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt in your backyardPage 4 of 5https://theconversation.com/the-next-global-health-pandemic-could-easily-erupt-in-your-backyard-138861A vaccine administered after exposure can prevent the virus from taking hold. But since 1996, threepeople who did not receive the vaccine after being bitten or scratched by bats died of the virus.Buruli ulcer: this disease, also known as Bairnsdale ulcer and Daintreeulcer, is caused by a bacterium that destroys skin cells, small blood vesselsand the fat under the skin. It causes long-term deformities. The bacterium,Mycobacterium ulcerans, occurs naturally in mosquitoes, vegetation andsome possum droppings.Australia is the only developed country with significant local transmissionof Buruli ulcer and the only country to report the disease in wild animalssuch as possums. The number of people infected in Australia recentlyincreased significantly in Victoria, to 340 new cases in 2018.Australia: a disease-risk hotspotA map published in Nature Communications in 2017 showed Australia’seast coast to be a global hotspot for risk of emerging infectious diseases.Australia continues to lose forest cover at alarming rates and biodiversity is suffering unprecedenteddecline and disruption. This increases the probability of animal-human interaction.Drying wetlands such as in the Murray Darling Basin destroy mosquito competitors such as aquaticanimals that eat mosquito larvae. This allows mosquitoes to emerge in large numbers when waterreturns. This may trigger the emergence of infections such as the debilitating chikungunya virus.Read more: Australia’s drought could be increasing Q fever risk, but there are ways we can protect ourselvesEnvironmental damage can also make humans more susceptible to the effects of infectious diseases. Forexample, bushfires (driven in part by human-caused climate change) trigger smoke plumes that increasethe risk of dying from coronavirus.Such diseases can also be catastrophic for species other than humans. Chytrid fungus, the mostdevastating disease on record to affect vertebrates, was first found in Australia in the 1970s. It hademerged in the early 20th century on the Korean Peninsula , alongside a commercial trade network inamphibians. It continues to cause the extinction of amphibian species worldwide.A severe case of Buruli ulcer, which is on the rise in regionalVictoria. Medical Journal of Australia3/6/20, 6(29 pmThe next global health pandemic could easily erupt in your backyardPage 5 of 5https://theconversation.com/the-next-global-health-pandemic-could-easily-erupt-in-your-backyard-138861Biodiversity Hendra virus West Nile virus Zoonoses Zoonotic diseases Coronavirus land clearing Buruli UlcerEnvironmental damage Disease outbreaks COVID-19 Zoonotic virusesWhat goes around comes aroundIt’s clear human health depends on healthy ecosystems. But this undeniable fact is too often overlookedin policy decisions that allow environmental destruction.Australia is an environmental and disease-risk hotspot. As a recent open letter from prominent healthleaders warned, the failure to conserve our environment dismantles our life-support systems andaccelerates catastrophic climate change.For humans to survive in our rapidly changing world, we must urgently strengthen and link policies ofhuman health, environment and climate reform.Read more: From the bushfires to coronavirus, our old 'normal' is gone forever. So what's next?Drying wetlands in the Murray Darling basin increase the risk of disease outbreak. Dean Lewins/AAP

The next global pandemic could easily erupt in your backyard

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The next global pandemic could easily erupt in your backyard

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