Go vegan or risk further pandemics, experts warn

An open letter says ending the exploitation of animals is ‘one of the biggest actions humankind can take to protect itself against future pandemics’, writes Chiara Giordano

Related video: Jane Goodall speaks on animal markets in light of coronavirus (Ronny Adolof Buol/AFP)

Experts are urging people to go vegan to prevent further pandemics like Covid-19 from happening in the future.

In an open letter published on Thursday, 10 scientists and campaigners have joined forces to warn factory farms and wildlife markets provide the perfect conditions for disease to thrive and transmit to humans.

The letter states: “Across the globe, animals are kept in horrific conditions in factory farms and wildlife markets.

“These settings provide a fertile environment for the transmission of viruses between different species and humans.

“Ending the exploitation of animals is one of the biggest actions humankind can take to protect itself against future pandemics.”

The letter has been signed by a host of scientific experts including Professor Andrew Knight, director of the Centre for Animal Welfare, and Dr Josh Cullimore, a public health specialist and GP.

The UK’s top barrister, Michael Mansfield QC, has also added his name to the list of signatures, as have campaigners Elisa Allen, director of PETA, and Bella Lack, ambassador for the Born Free Foundation.

Vicky Bond, managing director of The Humane League UK, and Dominic Dyer, author and animal welfare campaigner, have also backed the letter.

The letter was coordinated by vegan charity Viva!, which launched its “3 in 4” campaign on Thursday in a bid to highlight the link between the abuse of animals and human infections.

More than 3 million cases of Covid-19 have been recorded worldwide, including more than 160,000 confirmed cases in the UK.

According to Viva!, three in four new or emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and mainly through wildlife trade and factory farming.

Like Sars, bird flu, swine flu, Ebola and AIDS, coronavirus is believed to have originated in animals.

Taken together, 56 zoonotic diseases are responsible for an estimated 2.5 billion cases of human illness and 2.7 million deaths a year, the charity claims.

Campaigners warned humanity will always be at risk of future pandemics while factory farms and wildlife markets continue.

Juliet Gellatley, Viva! founder, said: “The longer we continue to exploit and abuse animals for our own needless consumption, the more at risk we will be to pandemics like Covid-19 in the future.

“Calls for tighter controls at airports, banning unregulated movement of animals, and limiting human-animal contact will give us little protection if we continue to provide the perfect environments for these diseases to thrive.

“The most logical and best form of protection is to go vegan and stop the disease at source.”

The Independent launched its Stop the Wildlife Trade campaign this month, calling for an international effort in creating tighter restrictions on wildlife markets and the trade of wild animals to reduce our risk of future pandemics.