Lessons learned from COVID-19: What is the connection between environmental protection and spread of epidemics?
Tbilisi. Green Alternative publishes an article by Irakli Macharashvili: Lessons learned from COVID-19: What is the connection between environmental protection and spread of epidemics?
“How the conflict between humans and wildlife contributes to occurrence and spread of deadly epidemics - we have to imagine animal markets to understand that. Such markets are places for gathering a lot of animals that may not live together in nature. Stressed and diseased animals are locked in cages and secrete body fluids. They are killed and the meat is cut in pieces at the same places. All this creates a favorable environment for spread of a virus. First cases of the new coronavirus were linked to specifically the Wuhan animal market, where live civets and other animals were sold for food. If we do not learn proper lessons, daily decline in wildlife habitat due to activities of humans will further exacerbate the threat of new epidemics: humans occupy habitat of wild animals and, thus, offer their bodies to viruses, fungi and bacteria that were hosted by animals”, - is stated on the website of the organization.
Source: greenalt.org
