During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we should remember a number of pandemics that occurred in the 20th century.
By
TRI SATYA PUTRI NAIPOSPOS
·6 minutes read
AFP PHOTO/WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION/CHRISTOPHER BLACK
This handout image provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 19, 2020, shows World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reacting at the closing session of the World Health Assembly virtual meeting from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus.
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we should remember a number of pandemics that occurred in the 20th century. There were three flu pandemics in the 20th century, namely the Spanish flu (1918), the Asian flu (1957), and the Hong Kong flu (1968). The Spanish flu was the largest pandemic in the 20th century with an estimated 50 million deaths. The latter two pandemics originated in China and killed about 4 million people worldwide.
COVID-19 is the third pandemic to emerge in the 21st century. Before it were severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS (2003) and H1N1 swine flu (2009). In our era, the world has experienced frequent regional epidemics, such as Nipah (1998), West Nile fever (2002), H5N1 bird flu (2003), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS (2012), Ebola (2014), Zika (2015) and Rift Valley fever (2016).
Natural sources
Like previous pandemics, COVID-19, which has spread throughout the world, is considered by experts to have come from a natural source. Although speculation and conspiracy theories have circulated widely on the internet, stating that COVID-19 was created in a laboratory or genetically engineered, there is no scientific evidence that supports this claim.
Experts say COVID-19 is a product of natural evolutionary selection, and it is possible that the original source was bats, similar to Ebola, SARS, MERS, Nipah and Marburg. The number of COVID-19 cases increased very rapidly because of human-to-human transmission, allegedly after a single introduction into the human population.
Research has proven that Ebola spread from monkeys and bats in Congo, SARS from weasels and bats in China, MERS from camels and bats in Saudi Arabia and Nipah from pigs and bats in Malaysia. Likewise, swine flu originated on a pig farm in Mexico, and bird flu from poultry in Hong Kong. Furthermore, many viruses spread through vectors, such as West Nile fever from birds and mosquitoes in Uganda, Zika from monkeys and mosquitoes in Uganda, and Rift Valley fever from livestock and mosquitoes in Kenya.
Bats have an extraordinary immune system that allows them to be a reservoir for many pathogens that do not affect the bats themselves but have a devastating effect on humans if the pathogens are able to make the jump. Some of these zoonoses are new to humans so we do not have the immunity to fight them.
A table of various zoonotic infectious diseases in WWF\'s latest report entitled The Loss of Nature and Rise of Pandemics: Protecting Human and Planetary Earth, March 2020.
Ecosystem balance
Peter Dazak, a disease ecologist, has said that 70 percent of new diseases that have emerged in humans this century are zoonotic. The occurrence of zoonotic events is complex and is influenced by various factors, such as genetic evolution, demographic changes, environmental conditions and climate changes that affect the balance of the ecosystem.
The triggering factors of zoonotic events can be categorized into three groups. First, environmental damage because of deforestation and habitat loss. The lives of wildlife and humans become closer and trigger the transfer of pathogens from animals to humans. Ebola, West Nile, Nipah and Zika fall into this category.
Likewise, domestic animals may come into contact with wildlife and transmit pathogens to humans, such as Rift Valley fever.
Many epidemiologists are examining these conditions in China, the site of the emergence of COVID-19. Its population is 1.4 billion; there is proximity between city and village dwellers; and there are slaughterhouses and markets in cities. Fourteen of the 50 most populous metropolitan cities in the world are in China.
Second, cultural practices, especially the practice of consuming exotic wildlife, sometimes raw, can spread new pathogens to humans. Both SARS and COVID-19 first appeared in wildlife markets in China. We know that this practice is not limited only to China but also exists in Africa and Southeast Asia, including in Indonesia.
Since the appearance of SARS in 2003, under global pressure, the Chinese government has banned the wildlife trade and the consumption of wild animals, but it has been poorly enforced. Only in 2018 did the Chinese government enact national legislation. The law is now being rolled out again because of the emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic. Although it is not too late, the global community had paid the price of Chinese negligence.
FOTO: C. GOLDSMITH - PUBLIC HEALTH IMAGE LIBRARY #11098
Color images of the 1918 virus taken by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The 1918 virus caused the deadliest flu pandemic in human history, which claimed the lives of around 50 million people worldwide.
Third, intensive farming causes very close contact among livestock and creates opportunities for widespread transmission of pathogens. Bird flu and swine flu both emerged in places of intensive farming.
The above factors are widely known, and many countries have legislation in place to control such situations. However, many developing countries, like Indonesia, have not taken any action on this issue. In a globalized world, weak regulation and poor implementation in one country can affect other countries, as illustrated in the case of COVID-19.
United health
Zoonoses have killed millions of people over the past two centuries. The world has realized that preventing a virus jumping from animals to humans can save the economy and human lives. The economic costs of zoonotic viruses can range from several billion US dollars in the case of regional epidemics to several trillion US dollars in a pandemic. This is no longer a national issue but rather a global issue, and it requires a response that is also global.
Indonesia experienced both a bird flu and a SARS epidemic over the last two decades. Although the nature of the viruses were different, it is important to know the source. A collection of different viruses will continue to circulate in domestic animals and wildlife. An understanding of the diversity of viruses, their implications for specific species and their geographical locations, together with an understanding of the human behaviors that can increase the risk of pathogen transfer to humans, is essential to prevent potential zoonotic outbreaks in the future or at least reduce their impact. Knowing where such diseases originated can help researcher choose which animals to use to test potential vaccines.
Kompas
Tri Satya Putri Naipospos-Hutabarat
The concept of “united health” aims to achieve better global health outcomes through understanding and prevention of risks stemming from the linkages between humans, animals and the environment. A multidisciplinary approach is needed in the implementation of programs, policies and research, where the fields of health, animal health and environmental health communicate and cooperate to strengthen the prediction of, prevention of and preparedness for zoonotic outbreaks.
Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, Second chairperson of the Indonesian Veterinarian Association.
