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Disease Ecology & COVID-19
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 which emerged out of Wuhan, China in December of 2019. This coronavirus is considered novel as we have never seen one specifically like this before. However, like all coronaviruses, this one is an enveloped, positive-strand RNA virus with spikes on it that are used for easy entry into cells. SARS-CoV-2 has at least 8 known strains spreading around the world with the L-type strain becoming the most prevalent after the virus was declared a pandemic. The way COVID-19 affects people differs from person to person but most cases, so far, have been shown to be mild or asymptomatic. Viral transmission is still possible for asymptomatic carriers and also possible before people start showing symptoms. As for where this virus came from, it is thought that this coronavirus, like many others, originated in bats. Current consensus is that pangolins acted as the intermediate host, bridging the gap between bats and humans.

Causes of Pandemics
Zoonotic diseases have emerged with increased frequency over the past few decades. The reason for this can be greatly attributed to the degradation of nature and humans encroaching ever closer to wild animal populations. As natural land is destroyed to make way for settlements or cropland, it brings many small animal species that have a higher chance of carrying zoonoses into contact with humans. Other types of degradation to natural landscapes including logging, especially in rain-forested areas, mining, and the building of roads through remote areas. A study found that zoonotic hosting animals is “up to 2.5 times bigger in degraded places” and that “species that carry pathogens increased by up to 70%” in these areas when compared to non-degraded ecosystems. These increases in the likelihood of a pathogen making the species jump is only exacerbated by its ability to spread around the world. This is thanks to increases in global trade, rapid urbanization, and exponential growth of human populations.

Health of Ecosystem and People
There is an approach to understanding how the world and its living beings interact and this is known as the One Health concept. It basically means that the health of humans, animals, and the planet are all interconnected. But it doesn’t stop at these areas of health being intertwined. It also encompasses the importance for the animal and human health sectors to coordinate responses to emerging zoonoses at a local, national, and international scale. As our environment becomes more degraded, we are seeing zoonotic pathogens pop up with more frequency. COVID-19 is the third outbreak of a coronavirus, following the outbreaks of SARS and MERS in years prior. This leads to experts expecting the rise of a fourth such outbreak sometime in the future.