Time bomb. Cities in the world at risk of generating new pandemics

A research conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia, in collaboration with scientists from the United Kingdom, India and Ethiopia, determined which cities on the planet have the potential for the future pandemics -, most of which are located in the south and south-east of Asia and so on Africa Sub Saharan, according to an article published in the Galileo magazine.

Scientific work published in One Health classifies cities in yellow, orange and red alert zones, taking into account the possibility of disease appearing in these areas. the areas.

In the study, the researchers detetaram that more than 40% of the world’s great metropolises risk becoming the epicenter of a new deadly disease due to the pressures of activities is action about nature and wildlife.

Furthermore, between 14% and 20% of these urban centers infrastructure precarious health conditions, which make them unable to effectively deal with possible viral diseases pandemic.

City where the future pandemic can begin© Michael Walsh, University of Sydney

To identify the highest risk areas, as explained by Galileo, the scientists considered several factors, or spaces where human coexistence with wildlife is most significant. In this case, these would be the areas “yellow” and “orange” warning signs interactions bidirectional between humans, pets and wildlife.

Then, they identified areas with precarious health systems and adjacent cities that are highly connected to the risk zone, thus being able to serve pandemics unknown.

“This is the first time that this geography has been identified in three phases and mappedand we want this to be able to inform the development of surveillancencia at various levels of infections in humans and animals to help prevent the next pandemic“, you can read in the article.

Michael Walsh, leader of the study, points out that although poorer countries have the majority of cities in areas classified as most at risk of spreading, on the other hand, more developed countries have many cities at risk due to the impact that they have on life through the pollution they emit and massive industrialization.

“With this new information, people can develop systems that incorporate infrastructure human health, animal husbandry, wildlife habitat conservation and moving from transportation centers to prevent the next pandemic“says Walsh.

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