Virus crisis shows need for proper sanitation and hygiene

 

From Moaz Nair

Flu epidemics kill 250,000-500,000 people each year and cause severe illness in three million to five million.

New virus strains that hop from animals to humans can be even more devastating if the global population has no immunity against it. A pathogen has the potential to spread pervasively and certain types have been proven to kill tens of millions of people, weaken economies and undermine national security.

Human health and animal health are both connected to the natural ecosystem. Apparently, the emergence rate of infectious diseases has been rising and about 60% of these new diseases are zoonotic; they can be transmitted from animals to humans. In other words, humans, animals and their environment are inseparable.

The history

The 1918 influenza pandemic, referred to as the Spanish flu, was the most severe pandemic in history. It was caused by a H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. The flu killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including an estimated 675,000 people in the US. There was a high death rate even among healthy adults 15 to 34 years of age.

The Asian flu (1957-58) was first identified in China. This H2N2 virus caused about two million deaths worldwide mostly among the elderly. The virus is thought to have emerged after a human form of H2N2 combined with a mutant strain in ducks. The strain has not circulated in humans since 1968, and the global population today largely has no immunity to the strain.

The Hong Kong flu (1968-69) was first detected in Hong Kong. The H3N2 virus killed around one million people globally, with those over 65 most vulnerable. H3N2 viruses still circulate today.

The Bird flu (1997) is an influenza virus which was found to spread directly from birds to humans. The H5N1 bird flu infections were linked to poultry markets. The first outbreak in Hong Kong killed six of 18 people infected. The World Health Organization has recorded 598 cases since 2003, with 352 deaths. Most deaths from bird flu were in Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam and China.

The Nipah virus emerged in Malaysia in 1998 and was linked to fruit bats and pigs.

Farmers had explored forested areas to set up food plantations; they cleared trees to build large piggeries. They planted fruit trees for additional income around the pigsties.

Fruit bats would eat the fruit, later dropping pieces on the ground. Ingestion of fruit contaminated by bat saliva or urine is thought to have led to virus spillover into the pigs.

While the Nipah virus was not killing the bats, it was harmful to the pigs, and later to the farmers and butchers handling them. There were nearly 300 human cases and more than 100 deaths, an approximate 40% fatality rate. To stop the outbreak, more than a million pigs were culled.

One of the new strains of flu was the H1N1 swine flu virus that originated in Mexico in 2009. The virus was a blend of a Eurasian swine flu virus with another strain that was itself a mix of bird, swine and human flu virus. The strain went on to kill more than 18,000 people around the world.

The outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa occurred in 2014. They were animal-borne, with bats or non-human primates being the most likely source. Infected animals carrying the virus can transmit it to other animals like monkeys and also humans.

Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids instead of through close contact droplet transmission like Covid-19. People still had to practise hand washing, social distancing and limiting their physical contact.

In Medieval England, the Black Death (also known as Bubonic Plague) killed 1.5 million people out of a total four million people between the years 1348 and 1350. Poor hygiene and lack of proper sewage systems were reasons for the plague. An outbreak of the plague in China in 2020 brought qualms that the “Black Death” could make a return. Fortunately, it was controlled before it could spread.

Today, the world is experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 3.5 million worldwide. This is not going to be the last pandemic if the natural ecosystem is not well looked after.

Humans also come into close contact with animals through deforestation where trees are cut down in order to replace them with farms. Intrusion into wildlife habitats are depriving these animals of their natural home base which will cause them to encroach on these farms, and in all likelihood bring infectious diseases to humans.

The trade and consumption of wildlife is one cause of outbreaks. There’s also over-exploitation — taking too many wild animals out of their environment — which alters the ecosystem and food dynamics.

Some species become too dominant, others intermingle with farm animals and encroach on human habitats. This can have disease outbreak consequences. To reduce the transmission of disease from wildlife to humans, strictly curbing deforestation and animal trafficking is the solution.

Covid-19

The emergence of Covid-19 has been linked to wet markets or slaughter houses. These are perfect spots for potential host switching of a virus. In some of these places, they may have chickens, ducks, pigs, pangolins, and a variety of animals both domestic and wild in close proximity. This creates the opportunity for the spread of virus through bodily fluids and excrement.

Covid-19 originally existed in the immune systems of horseshoe bats, studies suggest. Before infecting humans, the virus most likely had an intermediate host, with recent research suggesting the pangolin as a likely source. When humans and animals are in close proximity, there’s a high chance that a virus will hop between animal species, and on to humans.

As a precaution, the prevalence of the exotic wild animal trade and open unregulated slaughtering of animals must be stopped. Wet markets selling animal meats must be super clean and unceasingly supervised by the authorities.

Sprouting of viruses and diseases are not confined to exotic markets or foreign places. In our own backyard we see rodents roving in drains near eateries, wet markets and slaughter houses that do not conform to strict hygiene.

The country has to create a system of sanitary control, observation stations and better disinfection measures to be taken in these grimy areas to overcome the risk of disease outbreak.

The rise in harmful pathogens to human lives can be due to human population growth and urbanisation. As such, there is a need to maintain basic living standards among those living on the margin.

This includes refugees, illegal immigrants entering the country through the porous borders and who are not accounted for, prisoners, squatters and factory workers who are generally exposed to poor living conditions. Their questionable living conditions and lack of health awareness, to a certain extent, have exacerbated the spread of Covid-19.

Covid-19 is proven to be very contagious and the number of cases in the country is now on an upward trend. There have to be isolation hospitals in every state for all those who are affected to lessen the spread of the virus. When the authorities cannot take care of the people’s needs, more lives will be lost and healthcare costs will rise affecting the economy.

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.