Finding the next deadly virus and preventing a rat, bat or monkey from spreading it to people should be the primary focus of the world’s efforts to stop the next pandemic, a group of international researchers says in a study published Friday.
Preventing diseases from skipping from wildlife to people would save lives and billions in costs, the researchers said, and should be prioritized ahead of detecting and treating viruses after people get sick.
Disease experts and wildlife biologists had warned of the deadly risks of pathogens spreading from animals to people before COVID-19 arrived. The long list of such previous viruses include HIV, ebola and chikungunya.
Now, two years of fighting a virus that may have jumped from an unknown animal in Wuhan, China, has magnified that threat and the urgency of preventing the next exotic disease from circling the globe, said Aaron Bernstein, interim director of The Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University and a pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Bernstein, the lead author on the paper, said it’s not that vaccines, pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests aren’t needed, it’s that addressing future pandemics should start before the virus arrives. “Vaccines aren’t primary prevention,” he said.
– Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY
Also in the news:
►Bali has reopened travel to foreigners from all countries for the first time in two years, but mandatory quarantine remains in place for all visitors.
►New research shows that people who would have benefited the most from monoclonal antibodies after a COVID infection were the least likely to get them.
►A federal advisory panel voted unanimously Friday to continue to endorse Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for adults, now that U.S. regulators have given the shots their full approval.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 76 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 901,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 391 million cases and 5.7 million deaths. More than 212 million Americans — 64% — are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘 What we’re reading: The U.S. has reached a sad marker in the COVID-19 pandemic: 900,000 deaths. When will it end? “Vaccines and boosters are our best option to get out of the pandemic,” one expert tells USA TODAY. Read the full story.
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Judge says Virginia school mask rule may remain, against Gov.’s wishes
A judge on Friday temporarily halted an executive order by Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin that allowed parents to opt out of school mask mandates for their children.
The temporary restraining order means that mask mandates put in place by school boards may remain, at least for now.
Arlington Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo ruled in favor of seven school boards that filed a lawsuit challenging the governor’s order, one of the first actions Youngkin took after his inauguration Jan. 15.
The judge found that the single issue before the court was whether Youngkin, through his emergency powers, can override the decision of local school boards delegated to them under a 2021 state law that required boards to provide in-person instruction in a way that adheres to COVID-19 mitigation strategies “to the maximum extent practicable.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal masking, regardless of vaccination status.
FEMA continues to help supplement funeral costs for COVID-19 deaths
COVID-19 has killed more than 900,000 Americans since the pandemic began in early 2020. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, since last April, has been accepting applications to assist loved ones left behind and supplement funeral costs.
According to a Government Accountability Office report released last month, FEMA received and processed more than 222,000 applications for funeral assistance from mid-April to late June last year, alone. Here’s information on who qualifies, and how to apply.
Contributing: The Associated Press
