Can pandemics be contained?

THE EDITOR: As the existential threat from covid19 continues its panic-driven sweep across the globe, nations from China to Italy, and beyond, are shutting down businesses, schools, travel, et al to stem the latest epidemic.

There is not even a consensus on the name of this disease. According to the International Committee of Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), itofficially named the virus "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)." In contrast, on the same day (February 11, 2020), the World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease covid19.

The distinction is that ICTV's name is for the virus, while WHO's name is for the disease. Moreover, to confuse matters even more, the virus is also known as the novel coronavirus.

As every nation scrambles to do what it can, mostly quarantining, washing hands, contact avoidance, etc, no one is talking about the elephant in the room, namely, the cause of the virus – just the effect and how to constrain it. With accusations flying thick and fast, with China and the Hubei province's wet market in Wuhan as ground zero, isn't it about time that we examine the progenitor of diseases in general?

Zoonoses are diseases that jump from animals to humans. The zoonotic viruses include Ebola, salmonella, HIV, bird flu, swine flu, H1N1, and rabies. Moreover, there are zoonotic pathogens, such as
E. Coli found in the gut of animals that can cause diarrhoea and even death.

According to cdc.gov, "some E. coli are pathogenic, meaning they can cause illness, either diarrhea or illness outside of the intestinal tract. The types of E. coli that can cause diarrhea can be transmitted through contaminated water or food, or through contact with animals or persons."

The elephant in the room mentioned earlier is, with the extensive knowledge that we have acquired over the years about zoonotic diseases and the harm they cause to humans, why are we still using animal products in food, medicines, etc? We should know better, we do know better.

What uniquely differentiates us from other species is our ability to use data from knowledge acquired and, by analysing these patterns, apply critical thinking skills to change our habits. No matter how entrenched these habits are, whether cultural or ingrained by nature into our DNA, we can use scientific knowledge to overcome them so that we will not perish from the earth; if we don't, we surely will.

REX CHOOKOLINGO

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