Vegetarians and the coronavirus

The President and his toadies, like his Secretary of State, like to refer to COVID-19 as the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus, the latter even torpedoing a G-7 comminique.  But, as the author of this essay notes: "Those who think that this is a Chinese problem rather than a human one should think again."

Why?

There is no shortage of zoonoses that have emerged from human maltreatment of animals. The most likely origin of H.I.V. (human immunodeficiency virus), for example, is S.I.V. (simian immunodeficiency virus), and the most likely way in which it crossed the species barrier is through blood of a nonhuman primate butchered for human consumption. Similarly, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease probably had its origins in its bovine analogue — bovine spongiform encephalopathy (B.S.E.), or “mad cow disease.” The most probable mechanism of transmission is through human consumption of infected cattle.

Zoonosis--a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals--is not uncommon.  As Wikipedia puts it, it is one long list of zoonotic diseases!

So, they can continue to refer to the Wuhan virus, but that is a pleasure and comfort that is no different from peeing on oneself for warmth on a cold night!

When we know that so much of human misery has been zoonotic, shouldn't we seriously think about how we humans interact with, and treat, animals?

In the future, we should fully expect our maltreatment of animals to wreak havoc on our own species. In addition to future pandemics, we face the very real risk of breeding antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is not even a future problem.  It is already here.  It will only worsen in the future.

Imagine a couple of bacteria mutating just enough and spreading quickly too.  Then, when the next virus pandemic arrives, it will cause secondary bacterial infections like how COVID-19 delivers the blow that then makes it possible for bacteria to launch attacks.  But, we won't have drugs to fight the superbugs--the current antibacterials won't work.  (I wonder if COVID-19 patients are already experiencing the superbug problem.)  It is estimated that by 2050, ten million people could die each year from diseases that are resistant to drugs.

We can play this game of successive generations of vaccines and antibiotics in order to fight new viruses and bacteria.  And we should.  But, perhaps we also need to think more about the zoonotic dimension, especially when "there can be a significant lag between that emergence and the development of a safe and effective vaccine, during which time great damage can be done both by the virus and by attempts to prevent its spread."

So, what can be done?

Why not minimize the human-animal interaction to the extent possible?  We could stay away from the parts of the planet that have never been home to us homo sapiens. 

Well, that is not going to happen.

Or, we can pursue "a more intelligent — and more compassionate — appraisal of our treatment of nonhuman animals, and concomitant action."

Well, that's not going to happen either.

In that case, don't ever say that we weren't warned!