Ebola and Hantavirus Outbreaks Highlight Animal-to-Human Disease Risks

Ebola is currently spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The virus causes severe illness with roughly a 50 percent survival rate. A separate hantavirus outbreak was reported on a cruise ship.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, described both outbreaks in a Time article. He noted that Ebola spreads through bodily fluids and that limited supplies of protective equipment have complicated response efforts in past outbreaks. Vora also referenced his deployments to Liberia in 2014 and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019.

Hantavirus and Ebola are distinct viruses that both originated in animals. The article states that the majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans, including most pandemics since 1918, have animal origins. Thousands of other viruses are circulating in wildlife that could potentially cross into human populations.

Habitat destruction through deforestation has removed natural barriers between humans and wildlife. 3 million hectares of tropical forest last year. Industrial animal farming and the commercial wildlife trade have also been identified as factors that can facilitate pathogen transmission.

Climate change is altering disease transmission patterns, with half of known infectious diseases already affected by climatic hazards. The article states there is a one-in-five chance that another pandemic killing at least 25 million people will occur in the next decade.

The World Health Organization adopted a pandemic treaty last year that includes obligations on spillover prevention. Negotiators failed to reach agreement on sharing pathogen samples, vaccines, and medicines between countries the day before the hantavirus outbreak was reported.

Recommended measures include halting deforestation, improving safeguards on animal farms, and regulating the commercial wildlife trade. The article notes that live wild birds and mammals should not be sold in urban markets. It also states that medical schools and public health training programs have given limited attention to ecology and veterinary science.