Pandemic Predictors: Amazons's Researchers Explore Methods to Foresee Future Epidemics
Hunting Down Hidden Threats: The Battle against Unseen Enemies in the Amazon
Deep within the Amazon rainforest, a group of intrepid researchers wage an unseen war – one against microorganisms that could potentially bring about unknown diseases to the world. One of these brave souls is Alessandra Nava, a veterinarian and researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Manaus, the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
"If we had known about the COVID-19 virus," Alessandra muses, "we would have known that masks were essential due to its high level of contagion." This unfortunate event has taught us valuable lessons for facing future pandemics, and part of Alessandra's work involves studying an unlikely source: bats.
During the wet season, these animals have an abundance of food, making it likely they'll catch several tonight. But what makes bats so intriguing to Alessandra and her colleagues?
"The bat is one of the animals in the rainforest with the most viruses," she explains. "It acts as a reservoir for many pathogens – that's why it's a subject of study." In recent years, they've discovered that when these animals dwell near human populations or other species, "the load of these microorganisms is greater." This crucial insight allows scientists to identify diseases circulating among wildlife, potentially posing a threat to humans.
catching bats is not as difficult as one might think. The team sets up mist nets – the same type used to capture birds – in secluded, bushy areas, far from roads. Once the bats are caught, Gabriel Mendes, a biologist on the team, carefully extracts them from the net. Then they're transported to a nearby laboratory for analysis.
The objective here is clear: research to determine how to act in case of a pandemic. They study the bats' blood and feces to understand what viruses are currently circulating in the rainforest.
The Amazon: A Galactic Reserve of Hidden Viruses
Gemilson Soares, a virologist at the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), points out that the Amazon is home to more viruses than stars in our galaxy.
"That means there could be over 400 trillion, and almost all of them, unknown," says Gemilson. But it's when these microorganisms come into contact with humans that a problem arises. "If the population gets infected with a severe virus, it can turn into a pandemic," he warns. For the most part, we live blissfully unaware of these diseases in a world teeming with viruses. But, as Gemilson explains, "the Amazon, and all natural ecosystems in general, are altered by human action." Mass deforestation, for instance, can disperse viruses and increase the risk of transmission.
Manaus serves as an example of this constant connection between humans and jungle diseases. With over 2 million inhabitants and located in the middle of the Amazon, the city provides a real-life demonstration of the risks that come with encroaching upon the rainforest.
A City's Expansion: Inviting Epidemiological Challenges
Heitor Pinheiro, of the Manaus Metropolitan Region Observatory, explains that the city, which has doubled in population and extent over the past 30 years, lacks any kind of orderly growth plan. In the suburbs of Cidade de Deus, houses were built by simply cutting down trees and destroying the natural ecosystem. In the process, viruses were dispersed, and diseases increased in the area.
The Next Pandemic: A Matter of Time
The expansion of Manaus increased its urban footprint by almost 100 square kilometers in just three decades, roughly equivalent to the city of Barcelona.
"Where all these houses are now, there was once jungle," says Jailson, a 25-year-old resident of Cidade de Deus. Due to rapid urbanization, Jailson stated, "mosquitoes were prevalent, and people complained about the number of spiders and snakes that invaded their homes." The same issues occurred in the neighborhood where Miguel resides, further north and more recently developed.
"I bought this house because I liked seeing the jungle out the window," Miguel recalls. "In just two years, they destroyed it to build more houses. Malaria cases increased."
Gemilson of INPA issues a grave warning: "The jungle bleeds, and so do we – the next pandemic will emerge in just ten years." Preventative and conservation policies, as well as the continued efforts of researchers like those in Brazil, will play a vital role in avoiding another pandemic like COVID-19. Their work – identifying viruses and expanding the catalog of potential diseases – is essential in sharing critical information with researchers worldwide to better understand and combat future pandemics.
Enrichment Data:
Insights on COVID-19 and Prevention Strategies
1. Leveraging Natural History Collections for Pandemic PreparednessThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to use natural history collections to their fullest potential. These vast repositories – containing approximately 3 billion specimens worldwide – can provide essential information about pathogens, their hosts, disease origins, and spillover conditions. They document organism diversity at specific times and locations, offering a valuable historical and geographic context for understanding zoonotic diseases.
2. Adoption and Strengthening of the One Health ApproachThe pandemic underscored the importance of adopting and reinforcing the One Health approach globally. Recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, key organizations (WHO, FAO, UNEP, WOAH) developed a joint One Health plan in 2022 to reduce the risks of emerging zoonoses, improve wildlife farming and trade regulations, enhance disease control through community engagement, monitor foodborne diseases, and confront antimicrobial resistance – all vital steps in preventing future pandemics.
3. Environmental Factors and Human ActivitiesThe COVID-19 pandemic revealed the role of deforestation, urban expansion, and wildlife exploitation in increasing zoonotic spillover risks. Understanding these ecological pressures can inform land use and conservation policies aimed at reducing disease emergence. Integrating knowledge from natural history collections helps track how land use and environmental stress affect host immunity and pathogen dynamics.
4. Global Collaboration and Capacity BuildingInitiatives like the Prezode project and the Africa One Health University Network demonstrate the importance of international collaboration and workforce development in regions vulnerable to zoonoses. These efforts focus on comprehensive research across disciplines and improving local capacities to detect, respond to, and prevent zoonotic disease outbreaks.
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a comprehensive understanding that preventing future zoonotic diseases relies on:
- Harnessing natural history museum collections as critical scientific infrastructure
- Embracing and operationalizing the One Health approach globally
- Addressing environmental drivers such as deforestation and wildlife trade
- Enhancing international cooperation and local capacity in disease surveillance and response
These strategies, together, form the cornerstone for predicting, mitigating, and preventing future pandemics stemming from wildlife-origin diseases.
- The study of bats in the Amazon rainforest, high in viruses, serves as an essential element in understanding potential health-and-wellness risks posed by wildlife and their impact on humans.
- The Amazon, harboring more viruses than stars in our galaxy, is a reservoir for numerous undiscovered pathogens, emphasizing the need for continued investigation in environmental-science, particularly for mental-health, given the potential threats such viruses may pose.
- The exploration of nutrition and the>' relationships between human diets and the prevalence of certain diseases is crucial in determining carryover risks from animals to humans, especially in the context of the Amazon's vast ecosystem.
- Climate-change research focused on its impact on health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and mental-health in vulnerable populations is relevant as global warming affects habitats, altering the distribution of viruses in wildlife species and increasing the possibility of a spillover into human communities.
- As the Amazon rainforest continues to suffer from deforestation and human action, it is vital to emphasize the space-and-astronomy perspective of this unique ecosystem's value, not only as a bond between Earth's life forms and the cosmos but also as a safeguard for our planet's overall health.
