Topic: 2024-Spread of Animal Viruses
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Julia Callahan
Committee: World Health Organization (WHO)
Topic: The Spread of Animal Viruses
Country: The United Kingdom (UK)
Delegate: Julia Callahan
School: East Grand Rapids High School
The spread of animal diseases to humans, also known as zoonosis, is the infection of bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi from animal to human. The means of transmission are distinguished by five routes: direct contact, inhalation of aerosols, ingestion, indirect transfer by fomites (equipment/footwear/vehicles), and vector transmission. There are multiple sources of animal diseases that can be passed along through large networks; domestic, agricultural, and wild animals can all be culprits of the spread, the disease typically traveling through open wounds, their mucous membranes, breeding, gestation, and their milk. The practically limitless amount of forms of contact and infection makes attention to the problem necessary, noting that zoonosis is most common in regions with high densities of livestock as well as areas with poor sanitation and high concentrations of ticks/mosquitos. Examples of animal-spread diseases include Rabies, Salmonella, Tularemia, Lyme disease, COVID-19, and Yellow Fever, amongst others. These viruses can range from mild to death; the variety in transmission vessels makes this issue imperative to address.
Conversation on Zoonotic diseases by the United Nations was highly prevalent at the peak of COVID-19 in 2020. UN Secretary-General António Guterres asserted, “To prevent future outbreaks, countries need to conserve wild habitats, promote sustainable agriculture, strengthen food safety standards, monitor and regulate food markets, invest in technology to identify risks, and curb the illegal wildlife trade.” Stating that the most important focuses for this topic revolve around conservation, sustainability, safety, and improved technology. The report, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of Transmission,” led by Delia Grace Randolph from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), marks various plans of action to address the problem as a whole. Notable recommendations include strengthening the environmental dimensions of the One Health approach (a collaborative, multisectoral, transdisciplinary approach), leveraging innovations, re-governing food systems, sustainable use of wild resources, and Multilateral Environmental Agreements. The assembling of the UNEP’s intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) is a pivotal result of the 14 resolutions passed in 2022 that called for more decisive actions for nature. It is evident that the causes of pandemics and biodiversity losses are the same: land-use change is one of the biggest drivers, as low-diversity habitats are the most significant breeding ground for the spread of disease. The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) recognized One Health, alluding to its importance in tackling this issue. Organizations such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), and the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) all work at targeting the emergence of health crises centered around zoonotic disease threats, actively trying to prevent zoonotic pandemics.
Though human cases of zoonotic diseases have been considered uncommon here in the United Kingdom, we still actively monitor and analyze any threats of zoonotic diseases, especially in agricultural settings. We monitor zoonotic disease through the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), working on mitigation plans while tracking any possible outbreaks of diseases and viruses. A main course of study at APHA has been “reverse zoonosis”- the change of transmission from humans to animals- which has been extremely pivotal in the progression of COVID-19. Most of the research is centered on mosquito transmission, trying to prevent the spread of the West Nile virus as climate change makes the UK’s habitat susceptible to the disease. We have also been trying to proactively prevent the spread of the Rift Valley fever virus, a cause of hemorrhagic disease in sheep/cattle. The UK has adopted a “Biological security strategy” to ensure the biosecurity of the United Nations. COVID-19 was an example of an attack on public health and the economy; as climate change, biodiversity loss, and land use change progressed globally, it was alarmingly clear there was a need for proactive action. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, has been pivotal in protecting humans from biological threats like zoonotic diseases.
Our strategy for zoonotic disease prevention extends to other risks, including increased antimicrobial resistance, deliberate biological attacks by a state or non-state actor, and accidental release of a pathogen. It is focused on four pillars: understanding, prevention, detection, and responses. These pillars are to be implemented through developing a biothreat radar and a national bio-surveillance network, establishing a new UK biosecurity leadership council, developing new UK-based microbial forensics tools and capabilities, formalizing the leadership structures that oversee our biological security, and establishing a biological security task force in the Cabinet Office to coordinate UK-wide efforts on biological security. The Centre for Long-Term Resilience (CLTR) think tank and Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) have assisted in implementing this plan. Our initiative bears similar strategies to the US’s national biodefense strategy and implementation plan, acknowledging our shared views on this issue and tactics for approaching this issue. We would love to work closely with the United States. We have committed £1.5bn a year to this initiative and encourage states to commit funds to the issue when possible, recognizing the zoonotic disease threat as seen from COVID-19. Also, we would like member states to undertake modeling measures such as our Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) in their own countries, ensuring the safety, security, sanitation, and phytosanitary of all imports. Overall, the UK has many initiatives it would like to see adopted and recognized by the UN and its member states. Now is not the time to be daft; we cannot leg it when it comes to this issue, and instead, we must collaborate on this pressing problem plaguing our world with disease, economic turmoil, and, most importantly, the lives of our people—cheers to WHO and the resolutions to come over these crucial and cracking days of negotiation and collaboration.
