×
Carregamento em progresso

How humans are making pandemics more likely

1 membro

It’s never been easier for animal pathogens to spill over into humans.

Become a Video Lab member! http://bit.ly/video-lab

Over the last 40 years, disease outbreaks among humans have become more and more frequent. The majority of those diseases are zoonoses, or diseases that originated in animals, like Ebola, West Nile virus, and probably Covid-19. But what makes zoonotic outbreaks likelier than ever is actually something humans are doing.

According to science journalist Sonia Shah, author of the 2017 book "Pandemic," the expansion of humans onto more and more of the planet’s land has increased the likelihood of disease outbreaks in two ways. First, as humans move into what were once animal habitats, we end up living closer to animals that might contain dangerous pathogens; and second, as we destroy or alter animal habitats, we’re driving away or killing off animals that once served as a “firewall” between those pathogens and us. And the human land development driving this trend shows no signs of stopping.

Correction: At 4:28 and 4:49 we mistakenly depict the European robin. The species actually responsible for the spread of West Nile virus in North America is the American robin.

Further reading:

Vox’s Sigal Samuel interviews Sonia Shah:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/3/31/21199917/coronavirus-covid-19-animals-pandemic-environment-climate-biodiversity

Sonia Shah’s book Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond
http://soniashah.com/pandemic-the-book/

The World Health Organization’s retrospective on the 2014 Ebola outbreak:
https://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/ebola-6-months/guinea/en/

World Wildlife Fund 2018 Living Planet Report:
https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1187/files/original/LPR2018_Full_Report_Spreads.pdf

Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o
Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H

Próximo episódio
S01E1175 - The story behind this iconic Olympics protest
Ver o episódio

Episódios (1595)

Época 1

Séries semelhantes (10)

explained
explained
Les évadés du bureau
Les évadés du bureau
Vsauce
Vsauce
Psych2Go
Psych2Go
100 amis
100 amis
Darren fait une dépression, la websérie londonienne
Darren fait une dépression, la websérie…
Sans gêne
Sans gêne
Ça rime à rien
Ça rime à rien
Deux Italiens à Paris
Deux Italiens à Paris
Sexe opposé
Sexe opposé