New roadmap to prevent pandemics centers on protecting biodiversity
An international team of 25 scientists, including researchers from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), has proposed a roadmap for how to prevent the next pandemic by conserving natural areas and promoting biodiversity, thereby providing animals with enough food, safe havens and distance to limit contact and the transfer of pathogens to humans.Pandemics begin when disease-harboring animals, such as bats, come in close proximity with people, livestock or other animals and pass on new pathogens. Viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, Nipah, Hendra and possibly Ebola have all fatally spilled over from bats to humans, sometimes through an intermediate host.
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine receives $35M gift to advance science-based solutions for wildlife health
A $35 million gift will endow and name the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health at the University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to address key challenges at the intersection of wildlife health, domestic animal health, human health and livelihoods, and the environment that supports all life on Earth.
New method could help estimate wildlife disease spread
A new method could be used to estimate the prevalence of disease in free-ranging wildlife and help determine how many samples are needed to detect a disease.
Wildlife agencies often lack the financial and labor resources to collect enough samples to accurately measure how widely a disease has spread. In order to prevent human and animal pandemics with wildlife origins, such as with COVID-19, key species must be effectively monitored for emerging diseases that can cross from animals to humans.