
Experts pitch surveillance system to detect viruses in wildlife before next pandemic
July 9 (UPI) -- Scientific experts said Thursday that a wildlife surveillance system must be developed before the next pandemic emerges. Evidence shows the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, came from bats that likely passed the virus onto another species before infecting humans, according to the World Health Organization. Advertisement Infectious disease experts, ecologists, wildlife biologists and other experts argue, in a paper published in the journal Science, that a decentralized global system of wildlife surveillance must be established before the next pandemic. "It's impossible to know how often animal viruses spill over into the human population, but coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in people three times in the last 20 years," co-author Jennifer Philips said in a pre...