It is an annoying message, but after corona the threat of new virus outbreaks is certainly not over. Scientists predict that by 2070 at least 15,000 viruses will jump between animal species.
Due to climate change, many animals are moving to more suitable places for them, including the bat. They carry parasites and other pathogens with them. This increases the chance that viruses will transfer from animals to humans in the next fifty years.
The danger is greatest in densely populated areas, such as Southeast Asia and tropical Africa. In the journal Nature, the scientists describe how animals migrate when the earth warms 2 degrees, and where ‘virus hotspots’ are then created.
They estimate that there will be at least 15,000 new virus transmissions between animal species. Bats pose the greatest danger because they carry viruses that are relatively easy to transfer to humans.
