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Editorial
. 2020 Mar;2(1):6-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.bsheal.2020.01.003. Epub 2020 Feb 5.

A strategy to prevent future epidemics similar to the 2019-nCoV outbreak

Peter Daszak  1 , Kevin J Olival  1 , Hongying Li  1
Affiliations
Editorial

A strategy to prevent future epidemics similar to the 2019-nCoV outbreak

Peter Daszak et al. Biosaf Health. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

A novel bat-origin coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and continues to spread across China and the world. At the time of writing, a massive global response has been implemented to control the disease as it spreads from person to person. Yet the high-risk human-wildlife interactions and interfaces that led to the emergence of SARS-CoV and of 2019-nCoV continue to exist in emerging disease hotspots globally. To prevent the next epidemic and pandemic related to these interfaces, we call for research and investment in three areas: 1) surveillance among wildlife to identify the high-risk pathogens they carry; 2) surveillance among people who have contact with wildlife to identify early spillover events; and 3) improvement of market biosecurity regarding the wildlife trade. As the emergence of a novel virus anywhere can impact the furthest reaches of our connected world, international collaboration among scientists is essential to address these risks and prevent the next pandemic.

Keywords: 2019-nCoV; Disease emergence; Market biosecurity; Novel coronavirus; Risk reduction; Surveillance.

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