COVID-19 is Nothing New
Why the coronavirus is just the beginning
COVID-19 has been one of the most significant events to occur so far in the 21st century. It has shut down entire businesses and industries. It’s halted entire cities and completely derailed how people interact in a social setting. Nothing has had the power to create such isolation and global impact that the coronavirus has.
Not the first, not the last
No matter how unique this situation is, the coronavirus in itself is hardly anything new. In fact, the coronavirus is rather mediocre when it comes to diseases. Although the nature of the coronavirus and its rapid spread throughout nations is rather distinct, the way it has crossed from animals to humans is actually very common. In 2005, a mysterious disease that originated from pigs in China crossed over to humans. The probable cause was Streptococcus suis. It is very rare for its spread to humans with “less than 150 cases reported according to the UK Health Protection Agency”. That is rather low however there frequency of transmission of numerous diseases from animals to humans is rather high. There are many strains of bird flu that are known to be virulent and can be transmitted to humans including H5N11 and H9N2. A more recent case in fact occurred during the midst of the pandemic on June 1, 2021. A 41-year-old man in China had contracted a rare strain of bird flu known as H10N3.
Why is this happening?
China is known to be an extremely biodiverse hotspot when it comes to wildlife. Being one out of 17 mega-biodiversity countries in the world, China has 10% of all plant species and 14% of all animals on the entire planet. In addition, China has recently been undergoing rapid expansion and restructuring from an agrarian-based economy to a more developed consumer-based economy. This massive shift and increased industrialization benefit China greatly with some detrimental side effects. One such side effect includes the destruction of natural habitats for the expansion of cities and businesses. In fact, “China has experienced extremely rapid urban growth from 1992 to 2012 with an average annual growth rate of 8.74%”. While “41.99% of the local wetlands in China have disappeared during the same period”.
Continual degradation of natural habitats allows for greater exposure of wild animals to humans. Naturally, this exposure increases the probability that a particular virus or disease can transfer from those exotic animals to humans. In the case of COVID-19, those animals were bats.
Potential Future Implications
Honestly, COVID-19 should not come as a surprise. Many people have been mentioning countless well-known public figures for “predicting” the pandemic such as Bill Gates. But the rate of expansion in industrialization, a large population, and vast biodiversity in animals all point to a perfect breeding ground for a virus to be transferred and spread quickly. Not to mention China’s rather lackluster and altogether dishonest COVID case reporting only helps to exacerbate the problem. COVID-19 is not going to be the last serious pandemic the world will be facing. If anything, it is the first of many that will become possibly even deadlier than its predecessor. China continues to proceed with its industrialization efforts and it is only a matter of time until another virus will be unfortunately exposed to the human population again. It is up to us to be aware of the danger and take measures internationally to help stop it together.
