A fascinating insight into the relationship between humans and animals through viruses and other microbes, to help us better understand Covid-19 and the health crisis we are currently experiencing.
Humans and animals share a lot. However, here, we will only discuss a very specific sharing: that of microbes, of all kinds and in all directions, potentially responsible for various ailments. Communicable diseases are transmitted, it is in their nature. On the other hand, globalization is a human achievement and the excitement imposed by the global economic system seems to be the cause of the emergence of Covid-19 and the associated pandemic.
Globalization has completely changed, among other things, the epidemiology of infectious and contagious diseases. New or old, these diseases have left a lasting mark on humanity; the history and geography of some of them (plague, coronavirus, tuberculosis, rabies, etc.) are presented in this book to better understand them.
Will the new world order be based on health references and constraints, as has been the case since the beginning of 2020? A renewal of our relationship with nature is essential: fight against the destruction and artificialization of environments, reduce pollution, control climate, maintain space for non-human and non-domestic living things. We must also tackle social inequalities, poverty, corruption and put the general, planetary interest first. If health and quality of life come before economic indicators alone, then hope is allowed and the harsh lesson of the coronavirus will have been heard. Preserving biodiversity, its adaptive potential, its evolutionary capacities and its strong resilience, is perhaps relearning to live together. Thanks to a virus.
Former epidemiologist at the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety, FRANÇOIS MOUTOUa veterinary doctor, has worked on various diseases common to humans and animals to better understand and prevent them. A mammalologist, he is honorary president of the French Society for the Study and Protection of Mammals (SFEPM).
