Trilogy of Interaction: Human, Animal and Environment with respect to COVID 19

Nowadays we come across lot of posts, wallpaper and pictures depicting that Mother Nature is healing itself. Okay, for instance it’s true as people are contained in their habitats giving rise to less pollution and regeneration of flora and fauna as before. But do we really need this kind of healing, how nature will look when seen standing over a pile of dead bodies.

As most of us are well aware about the current topic or I would rather say existing situation of COVID19 pandemic. This year( Since January) we may not be able to provide a large scale service to our patients physically, but we have some great heroes called  veterinarians and supporting staff who are performing emergency duties to the remotest areas within their full capacity and hence striking an exemplary example of service and dedication. Not forgetting the great contribution by medical doctors and health workers for their rightful duties and heroic gesture t save the world.

And here comes the month of April where we are raising the toast for the World Veterinary Day to celebrate the most underrated job in India till now. And the theme of this year’s celebration is the entangled and complex relationship of animals, humans and environment. But the scenario is changing as people are realizing the importance of environment as if we are insulting and abusing nature in our own ways, nature will strike back. Food habits play a larger role in this environment as if there is no balance between what we eat and what we do, anything can go wrong. Some are criticizing the Chinese food habits as all the blame of corona is related to eating the so-called meat eating. Here it’s an undeniable fact that bats do harbor the corona virus but are we truly exposed to the reality that both these viruses are same or its just sharing the same family. Question is not whether it is correct or not, question is what we can do to cope up with this. Mitigation strategy is more important not for present but for coming years.

We have seen some confirmed cases of COVID 19 in animals like felines and tigers, so it rings an emergency alarm whether it is zoonotic or not, which other species can get affected by it or be a potential carrier for it. Also the need of hour is to spread awareness about the disease and its impact in animals and to suppress rumors. Some animal owners are abandoning their pets in the wakes of rumors like corona can spread to humans by animals, so it’s a crucial time for veterinarians and animal husbandry authorities to properly issue statements and posts to clarify things crystal clear. As we know in times of adversity like this people are quick to believe bad things about anything or everything. But here comes the science, believe only what is authentic and cited or quoted by any known Health organization like WHO, CDC, OIE, ICMR, CSIR etc. or stated by governmental portals.

Now approaching to the complex relation between environment, humans and animals. Balancing is the new key for everything; if one thing tries to supersede or outgrow the other we all are well aware of the consequences. Like the ongoing situation with COVID 19 some are speculating it’s caused via intake of bat soup, or by consumption of pangolin meat and some are claiming of the lab release of the virus a biohazard. Some are talking about changing food habits, some are asking for mass killing or bats, but we have to make any decision very carefully as changing year long food habit is not easy, also killing of bats can really fulfill our purpose or it will pose more harm to nature as the benefits via bats to nature surely outweighs the harms by them. No one is sure of the origin; researchers and scientists are also perplexed at this point. People are living inside home with a constant fear of their lives, jobs, future, freedom, etc.

But what is more crucial and at the same time very easy to understand is that this is the time to show human intelligence and find a healthy solution as no one knows what is lying in future and we can always learn from our past and be ready for forthcoming. There is so much information making rounds on social media regarding the preventive measures, speculation theories about the origin and spread, animals are stated as a source of infection and spread to humans, so try to differentiate information from knowledge and facts. With so much ongoing uncertainty one good thing which is happening among these kinds of odds is less pollution, less BOD and COD levels of water bodies, less global warming. But to consider it truly its all temporary till human beings are on lockdown or they have fear of infection or death, once loose free we have to be ready for similar polluted environment. On the other hand due to rumors and misinformation people are abandoning their pets due to fear, is it the definition of being education responsible and educated.

In past also we came across several diseases which were zoonotic and caused a massive impact on human health, so it’s an unprecedented truth that human and animal health are connected in a more complex way with sharing of a close knit niche, for this reason One Health Mission was created long back but joined by several leading organization in 2008 and one health day is celebrated on 3^rd of November, with the  thought  to work upon for the greater good of all, by the use of scientific knowledge, skill and research in veterinary science by collaborating with human medicine. While discussing on big platforms about the development of any drug or vaccine veterinarians should also be asked for their expert opinions. Most of the vaccines or drugs before their human trial are being tried on animals and also many of them are developed via in vivo testing on laboratory animals.

We can’t ignore the possibility of animals being affected by a certain virus which happen to harbor inside bats, but the question is do we have believe on speculations or the scientific facts. Till date there is no reported case of any corona virus infection in which has been passed on to the pets of an infected owner and vice versa. And while looking at the nature of viruses its highly likely that the vaccine production is going to take time and even then it’s not sure it’s going to work.

So it’s better to except the bitter truth and try to mitigate the loss and try not to create panic and further loss of human lives. This will be only possible by including certain preventive measure in our daily routine viz. social distancing, preventing handshakes, frequent use of sanitizers and face mask in crowded areas, follow strict hygiene personally and also publicly, creation of quarantine houses for these kind of situations, having adequate PPE for workers, quality medical equipments and facility, proper disposal of used PPE, drugs and cadavers, as this is directly related to health and is a serious environmental issue. To our knowledge earlier the spotlight was on human and environment as animals were covered in the entirety of environment, but in today’s modern era where animal community is not clustered in forests and villages rather than has become a part of our daily lives as our source of income and companion to our families. The animal health has to be taken at par with human health, as neglect at any level will affect everyone and we have to make policies concerning as how we can maintain this upright change in environment which we are witnessing after so long period.

Not only COVID but in the past we have faced and experienced several other emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases be it bacterial or viral like Zika, Ebola, Rabies, Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, etc. Also we have dealt with disease which spread like a wildfire across the continents like bird flu, swine flu, SARS, etc. and while talking about uncertainty we can’t say that we don’t expect any of the above stated diseases to cause a devastating outbreak in future.

Not only infectious diseases but some natural calamities like flood in Uttarakhand region in India in 2013, bushfires in Australia also lead to huge loss of animals and wildlife which can be indirectly blamed on to the untoward actions of human being towards nature. So the co-existence is very important for all to thrive and prevention is the best form of cure they say.

Above mentioned stratagem will only be implemented by the cooperation of medical and veterinary officials. There has to be a specific action plan for any kind of health emergency for both humans and animals, so that timely proceedings can be done. Also the important thing to emphasize is that veterinarians should be the one formulating action plans for animal health as they are the best judge for animal health policies. WHO should make a separate body to identify the possibility of COVID in animals and keep veterinarians upfront responsible for it.

So to all including each and every human being it’s a call to respect each other’s coexistence and try not to outweigh one another, most important thing is to keep all aside and think, analyze and act accordingly. Our motto should be one for all and all for one.