Preventing the Next Pandemic
May 19, 2020
Noting that disease pandemics often begin—as COVID-19 did—when a virus jumps from a wild animal into humans, two senior US lawmakers and a leading conservationist have called for governments and private groups worldwide to limit society’s steady encroachment into nature and curtail illegal trade in wildlife. The actions align with earlier proposals by a conservation scientist in an Issues online exclusive, including the formation of a global organization empowered to identify and stop habitat destruction and high-risk wildlife trade, aimed at preventing future pandemics.