By Michael Gwarisa
In 2020, the world went into a total lockdown following the declaration of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) as a global health pandemic. The coronavirus is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Cases of novel coronavirus were first detected in China in December 2019, with the virus spreading rapidly to other countries worldwide. This led WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and to characterise the outbreak as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
Several studies have been conducted to ascertain the origins of the COVID-19-causing virus. The coronavirus belongs to the zoonosis family as its origins have been tracked back to bats even though this is not conclusive. A zoonotic disease or zoonosis is any disease or infection naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans and there are over 200 known types of zoonosis in the world. Other Zoonotic infections that have been recorded to date include Ebola, Zoonotic influenza, Salmonellosis, West Nile virus, Plague, and Rabies among others.
Findings from a recent study by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins on Novel Pathogens (SAGO), suggest that animals were present at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, Wuhan, China shortly before the market had been cleared on 1 January 2020, as part of the public health measures by Chinese authorities. According to the Chinese authors’ pre-print (Liu et al 2022), of 1380, samples collected from the environment and animals within the market in early 2020, 73/923 environmental samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2-specific RT-qPCR, from various stalls and sewerage systems in and around the market, but no virus was detected in 457 animal samples tested.
The animal samples included animal bodies, frozen animal carcasses and animal products, as well as stray animals around the market, and covered 18 species. According to the preprint, raccoon dogs were not among the animals tested. However, the high levels of raccoon dog mitochondrial DNA in the metagenomics data from environmental samples identified in the new analysis, suggest that raccoon dogs and other animals may have been present before the market was cleaned as part of the public health intervention.
Due to the rise in human/ wildlife interaction, scientists have been on record postulating that the next global health pandemic could be a Zoonotic disease.
However, African Wildlife Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kaddu Sebunya told Zimbabwean Editors during a dinner at a Harare Hotel that it’s not all doom and gloom, and Africa has a better chance of reversing such a public health outcome through proper conservation practices.
Conservation is a health issue. We just got through COVID. Conservation is a firewall. Without conservation, another virus is going to come,” said Sebunya.
“Conservation is a firewall. We saw that with Ebola. We saw that with HIV. We saw that with COVID. Our work is to keep the viruses on wild animals and in wild places. There are so many viruses out there, and if we succeed in managing wild places the human species will be okay, and if we don’t, it’s a problem for all of us. So our work is a health issue.”
To achieve this however, Sebunya said there is a need to train Africans on proper conservation practices so that they appreciate the importance of preserving Flora and Fauna.
“The problem is that Africans have outsourced the responsibility of conservation to non-Africans, to funding to the international community, benefits to international investment, and we have checked out completely out of the sector. Even after you count how many Africans have invested in the tourism sector, there are a few. Those who are African look white. Africans are building apartments, investing in trade in Dubai and other important things. We are building private schools and merchandise. That’s where we’re investing. We’re not investing in the business of conservation because that sector, historically, we have completely outsourced that responsibility,” added Sebunya.
Africa still holds the world’s largest wildlife population. Zimbabwe holds about 200,000 of the elephant population. However, Africa continuously loses about an average of 35,000 elephants a year. Sebunya said that unless about 160 million black Africans are somehow aware and take conservation as part of their aspirations, as the big contributor to their aspirations as Africans, then ending challenges associated with conservation will remain a pipe-dream.
“So as AWF, we have challenged ourselves in our new strategy and said we need to involve Africans, get Africans on board, and not turning Africans into conservationists, but someone who understands that if I’m investing in agriculture, conservationists are playing a big role for me to succeed in agriculture.
“We need to build a body of Africans who care. A constituency of Africans who care. etting Africa’s connection and care is critical for us to be successful. And this is only if conservation matters.”
Several challenges stand in Africa’s way in as far as containing the spread of Zoonotic diseases is concerned. These include increasing wildlife-related crimes such as poaching and trafficking of wildlife to foreign markets. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), trafficking in wildlife fauna and flora can significantly impact human health, national security and economic development.
Another challenge that could see Zoonotic diseases becoming a major health concern shortly is the continued invasion or encroachment into natural or wildlife frontiers and the depletion of forests. Deforestation and encroachment of wildlife habitats have forced wild animals to migrate into areas populated by people.
Meanwhile, the consumption of wildlife has been happening for years in almost every part of the globe. In Asian countries, the concept of wet markets has also seen the emergence of trade and consumption in wildlife products. A “wet market” is a public marketplace where fresh produce, meat and fish are sold.
Illegally sourced wildlife traded clandestinely escapes any sanitary control and exposes human beings to the transmission of new viruses and other pathogens. According to the UNODC, There is therefore need to tackle illicit wildlife trafficking to prevent future pandemics stemming from zoonotic pathogens. The existence of parallel wildlife trade markets -illegal alongside legal- makes the enforcement and security measures against wildlife trafficking ever more relevant to prevent a similar crisis in the future. Illegally sourced wildlife traded clandestinely escapes any sanitary control and exposes human beings to the transmission of new viruses and other pathogens.
