Most of us have heard the old expression that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. As I sit here in self isolation I can’t help but think that the Covid19 pandemic is exactly that, the definition of insanity.
A few friends have shared Bill Gates’ 2015 TED talk on pandemics and commented on how smart he is. In the video Mr. Gates tells us that the next global catastrophe will not be nuclear war, but a deadly virus. Obviously Bill Gates is a very smart man, but not a fortune teller, he was just repeating what science has been telling us for some time, a message that most of us have ignored.
Back in 2013 a form of avian flu called H7N9 started popping up in China. If you Google it you’ll find that the virus has had a 40% mortality rate since it was first identified. You’ll find that it originated in the fresh bird markets of China, and you’ll find that since 2017 the WHO has been very worried that this zoonotic virus would be the next big pandemic.
The fact that Covid19 has beat H7N9 to the punch seems largely due to the fact that Covid19 can be passed between humans while H7N9 still seems limited to animal to human transmission. All this to say, just because we are facing a deadly pandemic today does not mean that we won’t face yet another more virulent flu in the near future.
The insane part of this of course is that as many as 60% of the flu outbreaks that kill people can be linked to the production and sale of animal products for food, and yet nothing is being done to address this. Like the Covid19 virus, 2002’s SARS virus was also linked to a wet market in China. The origins of HIV have been traced to the butchering of wild monkeys in Africa, and 2009’s H1N1 outbreak originated on pig farms in central Mexico.
The list of infectious diseases that can be linked to animal agriculture is long and not restricted to the developing world. Besides those mentioned above there are: Japanese Encephalitis, Brucellosis, Echinococcosis, Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, Escherichia coli, Hepatitis E Virus, H1N1, MRSA and Mad Cow to name a few.
One can’t help but think that cognitive dissonance is at play here. From talking to my omnivore friends I get the impression that they feel deadly pandemics of the Covid19 variety are a cost of doing business. They have no intention of changing their diets and don’t expect those in other parts of the world to do so either… and that to me seems insane.
During the cold war, anti nuclear demonstrations would bring people out into the streets in protest. The thought of global annihilation at the hands of a few irresponsible countries was more than many could bear. Yet here we are standing at the brink with climate change and pandemics looming, both of which can be linked in a large part to animal agriculture and no one seems willing to change their ways for the sake of human kind… and that to me seems insane.
The world of course is no longer a collection of independent nations when in comes to the climate, war, economics or pandemics. This current virus had likely gone international before officials in Wuhan even knew it existed. As such we need to act as a global community on these issues. At a minimum, I would hope that governments and NGO’s share best practices around animal production with those that need guidance. Likewise, the UN needs to bring pressure to bear on governments that continue to allow for the conditions that foster the emergence of deadly, zoonotic diseases, in much the same way that we might sanction a nation for not meeting global expectations around nuclear proliferation or human rights. We owe this to future generations.