Why eating animals will be the death of us all
The world is waking up to a new social order. Countries are in lockdown; citizens across Europe are being confined to their homes unable to leave with the exception of trips to supermarkets, pharmacies and emergency services. The reason? Coronavirus COVID-19.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause respiratory diseases in humans and animals. Symptoms range from a mild cough, runny nose, and fever to pneumonia, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and, in a small percentage of vulnerable people, death.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic which means they can jump the species barrier and are transmitted from animals to humans. The scientific evidence suggests that coronaviruses come from animals, and the spread of these diseases has been linked to the way we treat animals and, in particular, animal farming.
The World Health Organization explains:
“Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV)… Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.”
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
The SARS coronavirus was first identified in 2003 following an outbreak in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002. The virus is thought to be derived from animals (most likely bats) which then spread then to other animals (civet cats) and humans. Animal traders were found to be carriers of SARS and scientists discovered that the SARS virus shared 99.8% of its genome with a civet coronavirus, which is why civets were considered a likely source.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1140695/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w
https://www.who.int/ith/diseases/sars/en/
MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome)
MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
MERS is another zoonotic virus, meaning it is transmitted between animals and people. Scientific evidence suggests that the first person to become infected fell victim following exposure to the faeces of the Egyptian tomb bat (Taphozous perforatus). The isolate, found in a faecal pellet from the bat, was found to be a 100% match with the London victim. The disease then spread more widely through dromedary camels which are farmed in Saudi Arabia for their milk and meat. After the virus outbreak, the W.H.O. was quick to point out that the consumption of camel meat and milk was dangerous and advised anyone who continued to consume camel products to ensure that the meat was well cooked and the milk pasteurised.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23439293
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/middle-east-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus-(mers-cov)
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease which can cause severe acute respiratory disease. It was first identified in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and in the past months has spread globally, resulting in the current coronavirus pandemic. Common symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The majority of people who are exposed to the virus experience mild symptoms but, in a small percentage of people, the disease can lead to severe pneumonia and multi-organ failure. The rate of deaths is estimated to be 3.4% of those infected but the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions involving compromised immune systems are most at risk. Although the mortality is lower than SARS and MERS, COVID-19 is thought to be the most alarming of all recent Coronoaviruses because it spreads so easily and so quickly. As a result, countries all over the world are closing their borders and enforcing social lockdown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_disease_2019
Preventing Coronaviruses
Nobody knows how severe the fallout will be from COVID-19. Some reports suggest lockdowns may continue for months which would be catastrophic for the World’s economy. Hundreds of millions of people could lose their businesses, jobs and homes. Life savings may be wiped out. Currencies could become worthless if the world enters a global Depression.
Yet there is one lesson we must learn from Coronaviruses if we are to prevent future similar outbreaks; we can’t continue to treat animals in the way we do with impunity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns: “…3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals.” That means that we can reduce the likelihood of more coronavirus outbreaks and all other infectious diseases by at least 300% simply by not consuming animal flesh, milk or eggs.
In the future, these viruses may be a lot worse than CIOVID-19. Spanish flu that killed 50 million – 100 million people in 2018 was particularly horrific. People who caught the flu in the morning were dead by the afternoon. If that kind of virus were to hit us today, it would be far more serious due to the sheer number of people and modern living. All we know is that it would likely result in hundreds of millions, if not, billions, of people dying. And any such crises will be magnified exponentially when antibiotics become useless (again, largely through their use in intensive animal farming).