Bird flu, Mpox and Marburg. Why are there so many viruses now – scientists answer

From the widespread outbreak of monkeypox, now called Mpox, in 2022, to the burgeoning avian flu situation and the recent Marburg virus cases in Equatorial Guinea, COVID isn’t making headlines as often as it used to. Instead, we regularly hear about outbreaks of new or re-emerging viruses. So is the frequency of virus outbreaks increasing? Or have we gotten better at detecting outbreaks thanks to advanced technology developed during the COVID pandemic? The answer could be both, says Science Alert.

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To understand how viruses originated, we need to go back to the beginning of life on Earth. There are several theories about how the first viruses arose, but they all agree that viruses have co-evolved with living things for billions of years. Problems arise when this stable coevolution breaks down.

The main factors in the emergence of viruses in the human population are people and their actions. Agriculture became common practice 10,000 years ago, and with it humans came into close contact with animals. This made it possible for viruses that naturally infect these animals to jump from one species to another. This is called zoonosis. Approximately 75% of emerging infectious diseases are caused by zoonoses.

As human civilization and technology improved, the destruction of animal habitats forced them to seek new territories to seek food sources. Different species that did not normally come into contact with each other now lived in the same environment. Bring humans into the equation and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a new virus.

Urbanization leads to high population density, creating an ideal environment for the spread of viruses. The rapid development of cities and towns often outpaces the development of adequate infrastructure, such as sanitation and healthcare, making virus outbreaks more likely.

Climate change also contributes to the spread of viruses. For example, arboviruses (viruses spread by arthropods such as mosquitoes) are being discovered in new areas as the range of countries where mosquitoes can survive expands.

Scientists have known about these factors for a long time. The advent of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) did not surprise any virologist or epidemiologist. It was not a question of when an epidemic would occur, but when it would happen. What was surprising was the scale of the COVID pandemic and the difficulty of effectively limiting the spread of the virus.

We also could not predict what impact the misinformation would have on other areas of public health. Especially in the last few years, anti-vaccine opposition has become more prevalent on social media and we are seeing an increase in the number of people who doubt the vaccine.

Routine childhood immunization programs have also been interrupted, increasing the risk of epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.

Surveillance lessons

During the COVID pandemic, science advanced at an unprecedented rate, leading to the development of new and improved virus detection methods to track virus outbreaks and evolution. Now, many scientists tracking SARS-CoV-2 are turning their attention to tracking other viruses as well.

For example, wastewater monitoring was widely used to detect SARS-CoV-2 during the epidemic and could similarly help track other viruses that pose a threat to human health.

When a person is infected with a virus, some of that virus’s genetic material is usually flushed down the toilet. Wastewater can show whether infections are increasing in an area, often before hospital cases start to increase.

Adapting this technology to look for other viruses such as flu, measles, and even polio could provide us with valuable data on the timing of virus outbreaks. To some extent, this is already happening – for example, in 2022 the polio virus was found in the sewers of London.

This increase in virus surveillance will naturally lead to more reported virus outbreaks. While some people may see this as fearmongering, this knowledge could be the key to containing any future pandemics. If an outbreak occurs in an area where there is no proper virus surveillance, the infection will likely spread far and be difficult to control.

But surveillance is only one part of pandemic preparedness. Governments and health and scientific institutions around the world need to have (regularly updated) protocols for the emergence of viruses and epidemics so that we do not try to understand a situation that may be too late.

It is unlikely that COVID will be the last pandemic that many living today will witness. Let’s hope we’ll be better prepared next time.

Previously Focus He wrote that bird flu is far from being just bird flu. Reached minks and sea lions.