Issue paper
Preventing the next zoonotic pandemic. Strengthening and extending the One Health approach to avert pandemics of animal origin in the region
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, probably originated from an animal source, similar to 60 percent of all human infectious diseases. The pandemic has emphasized the need to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to diseases at primary spillover level, where a new pandemic is likely to start. Pathogens are most likely to spread in locations where wildlife comes into contact with livestock production, particularly where people earn livelihoods, such as in live animal markets, areas where bushmeat is hunted, traded and consumed, or where growing pressures on natural ecosystems has forced livestock, wildlife and humans into close proximity. As a result, family farmers, especially women and children, are at high risk. Preventing spillover at source and mitigating the emergence and spread of pandemics requires a holistic and participatory One Health approach, involving experts, policymakers and communities in high-risk settings.
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