\u201cI am a medical oddity \u2014 I\u2019m a doctor who specializes in saving forests.\u201d<\/p>\n
So begins a new TED talk<\/a> by Dr. Neil Vora, an epidemiologist at Conservation International.\u00a0<\/p>\n While it may seem unusual for a medical doctor to work for a conservation nonprofit, Vora\u2019s work centers on a powerful premise: that human health and the protection of nature are inextricably linked. This idea has not received much attention \u2014 \u201cMy main message is that our health cannot be separated from the health of the planet,\u201d said Vora, who has devoted his career to chasing infectious diseases \u2014 from Ebola-stricken villages in West Africa to New York City, where he led \u201cI wanted to do this TED talk to help people see how our health as humans is connected to the health of animals and nature more broadly,\u201d he told Conservation News. \u201cPeople need nature to survive, and with everything we do to protect Most newly emerging infectious diseases originate from animals. And changes in the way land is used, particularly from deforestation, play a major role in transmitting them to people, research shows<\/a>. As the global commercial wildlife trade persists and humans continue to encroach deeper into forests, there are more opportunities for pathogens to spread from animals to humans \u2014 a process known as \u201cSome researchers believe the West African Ebola epidemic began with an axe,\u201d Vora says in his TED talk, released on Tuesday. \u201cCommunities in rural Guinea, for their survival, had no choice but to clear forests for farms. Then, in 2013, \u201cEbola\u2019s animal origins, however, aren\u2019t unique,\u201d Vora continues. \u201cAll five viral pandemics from 1918 through 2009 can be traced to animals \u2014 and the same is likely true for COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n If humans continue to degrade nature, the probability of pandemics is expected to increase in the coming decades, research shows<\/a>. Moreover, the threat of infectious disease is growing<\/a> as the planet warms. Climate \u201cThere is something we can do right now that would have an immediate impact on health and climate. What\u2019s more, it will cost way less<\/a> than fighting the next pandemic,\u201d Vora says. \u201cSo, what is this solution? Protecting Since joining Conservation International as a pandemic prevention fellow in 2021, Vora has begun to put this issue squarely on policymakers\u2019 radars \u2014 advocating for increased funding and strategies that focus on protecting nature to prevent \u201cThere is no human health, or animal health, or environmental health;\u201d Vora says, concluding his TED talk. \u201cThey are one and the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/p>\n Vanessa Bauza is the editorial director at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates here<\/a>. Donate to Conservation International here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ciorg.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/temp\/ci_74555958edit.jpeg?sfvrsn=588cfc16_3?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\"\/)
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\n but Vora hopes the popularity and influence of TED talks might change that.<\/p>\n
\n a COVID-19 contact tracing program with more than 3,000 staff during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\n nature, we are also protecting ourselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u201czoonotic spillover.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n an 18-month-old boy died of Ebola. He\u2019s believed to have caught the virus from bats that lived in a hollow tree where he played. Put another way, the virus likely spilled over from bats to the boy, making him \u2018patient zero.'”<\/p>\n
\n change is shifting where diseases show up. For example, the Zika<\/a>, dengue<\/a> and West Nile<\/a> viruses, which were previously confined to tropical climates, are projected
\n to increasingly affect communities that have never experienced them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n tropical forests.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n outbreaks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n