Full Description
Unpacks the mysteries of COVID-19's origins to impart important lessons for future outbreaks.
Unpacking the mysteries of COVID-19's origins to impart important lessons for future outbreaks.
In this timely book, leading public health expert Laura H. Kahn uses the comprehensive One Health approach to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of "One Health" recognizes the interconnected links among the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. By comparing the history, science, and clinical presentations of three different coronaviruses—SARS-CoV-1, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)—Kahn uncovers insights with important repercussions for how to prepare for and avoid future pandemics.
The One Health approach is a useful framework for examining the outbreak of COVID-19. Understanding the origins of this zoonotic disease requires examining the environmental and molecular biological factors that allowed the virus to spread to humans. Kahn investigates the many ways in which the wild animal trade, wet markets, and the camel industry contributed to the spread of earlier coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS. The book also explores the biosafety, biosecurity, and bioethics implications of gain-of-function research on pandemic potential pathogens. This important book is a must-read to understand the history, science, and geopolitics of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
Dimensions One and Two
2. Domestic and Wild Animals
3. Environments and Ecosystems
4. Humans
5. Molecular Biology of Coronaviruses
Dimension Three
6. Gain-of Function Research, Biosafety, Biosecurity, and Bioethics
7. Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
Acknowledgments
Appendixes
Notes
References
Index
