David Quammen, in “ The big jump », Leads us into a global investigation into zoonoses, these animal infections transmitted to humans and responsible for more or less virulent epidemics. The disruption of ecosystems is a major cause of their proliferation.
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- The opinion of “ Reporterre » — This book, the result of a survey of several years, explains in a lively and educational way how the science of viruses was formed, through the experiences of AIDS, Q fever, Ebola, etc. This remarkable work leads to two strong ideas: we must consider viruses from an ecological point of view, as organisms that seek to develop, like any living organism. ; and the upheavals of ecosystems by human activity are such that unknown viruses will continue to interfere with human societies. HK
- Presentation of the book by its publisher:
A new virus appears in China. We know the dramatic turn that this emergence has taken. Covid-19, like SARS, Ebola, VIH or seasonal flu are « zoonoses », animal infections transmitted to humans and responsible for more or less virulent epidemics. How is this triggered « big jump » between species ? Why some viruses disappear when others have lasting and devastating effects ?
To answer these questions, David Quammen takes us on a global investigation. Zoonoses don’t just happen by chance, he says. The upheaval of ecosystems, linked in large part to human activity, favors unexpected jumps from one species to another. A virus that enters a new ecosystem has two options: find a new host or… die out. Man – with his seven billion congeners – therefore represents a privileged target.
« As you read, the preface by Pascal Picq warns us, we feel the murky, deliquescent, tragic atmosphere of a world which inevitably escapes its actors. » Yes, the threat looms: nobody knows when, nobody knows where, but one thing is certain, there will be other pandemics.
- The big jump. When animal viruses attack humans, by David Quammen, Flammarion editions, October 2020, 544 p., 25 €.
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