the biden administration could demand. dr. del rio, what is your biggest or are your biggest outstanding questions this morning? there s a lot of questions, poppy. i think two things what julia said i agree with. time but we need better international cooperation. china not only in this pandemic but in 2003 with sars, it was slow to open. it was secretive. we need transparency and international collaboration. the reality, the pandemic caused over three million deaths globally. if we had better national collaboration at the beginning, i think the trajectory of the pandemic would have been very, very different. i think we need to look forward and see how to prevent it from happening again. what are the things draft need to happen to create that independent body that is able to investigate and act rapidly and get over politics in order prevent pandemics.
(Photo : Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
Between 1998 and 2018, the global trading network was more extensive among pairs of countries with greater wealth disparities, according to a report published in Science Advances.
Indonesia, Jamaica, and Honduras were the top exporters of wildlife goods, while the United States was the top importer, followed by France and Italy.
Reducing Demands for Vulnerable Species
Cites (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) regulates cross-border trade in wild plants and animals, with the aim of reducing demand for vulnerable biodiversity and encouraging populations to recover.
International Collaboration
(Photo : Hennie Stander on Unsplash)
We can prevent the next pandemic (commentary)
Research has shown that agriculture, urbanization, and other human activities that degrade forests and other ecosystems can trigger viruses to jump from other species into humans, a process known as “spillover.”
In this commentary, Prevent Pandemics at the Source co-founders Sonila Cook and Nigel Sizer argue that “it’s only when we prevent new diseases before they start at the source, where humans and animals come into close contact – that we will become less vulnerable to pathogens.”
Cook and Sizer say that prevention is much less costly than fighting pandemics once they start. “We can protect forests, clean up and reduce wildlife trade, improve farming practices and expand surveillance to detect spillovers as they are occurring for about $10 billion per year,” they write. “Compared with the massive human and economic cost of another pandemic, this price tag is tiny.”
February 8, 2021
A live virtual event focused on preventing future pandemics, recognizing that human health is inextricably linked to the health of wildlife, livestock and the environment, will be moderated by New York Times journalist Thomas L. Friedman with a keynote address from noted naturalist Jane Goodall.
Jane Goodall
This event is free and open to the public. It will feature public health and conservation experts from Cornell and other institutions, including the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program.
“This virtual dialogue will be a robust exploration on how we as humanity can better govern our behavior to reduce the likelihood of future pandemics,” said Dr. Steve Osofsky, D.V.M. ’89, the Jay Hyman Professor of Wildlife Health & Health Policy and director of the Cornell Wildlife Health Center. “The experts we’ve assembled will be sharing their ideas on how our global community of nations can hopefully come together to prevent what
Cornell and WWF will host a virtual conference Feb. 23 focused on the link between humans and wildlife, and the subsequent prevention of future pandemics.