Image: University of Sydney
Fast Company: This is where the next pandemic is likely to emerge
COVID-19 won’t be the last time a virus jumps from animals to humans and threatens humanity. Now scientists are trying to determine what factors are most likely to incubate the next deadly virus.
Roughly a year ago, it’s likely that the new coronavirus made the jump from a wild animal to the first infected human in Wuhan, China, before spreading throughout the city, and then leaping quickly to the rest of the world. If 2020 seemed like an anomaly, it isn’t: Scientists say that another pandemic will follow at some point in the future. A new study tries to identify where it might emerge.
“Essentially, this work is trying to identify the biggest gaps in the modern, globalized world where pathogens may be most likely to slip through and lead to extensive global dissemination,” says Michael Walsh, the lead author of the new study and an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health.
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WNU Editor: Bottom line. The next pandemic can come from a lot of places.
