The Causal Relationship between Eating Animals and Viral Epidemics

Reddy, Bhaskara L.; Saier, Milton H.

doi:10.1159/000511192

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Since viruses, in contrast to bacteria, do not replicate in food, and they may be difficult to replicate in cell culture, viruses are frequently more difficult to detect than bacterial pathogens, and it is therefore much more arduous a task to identify and analyze food-borne viruses. Nevertheless, several well-established and emerging viruses implicated in food-borne infections are now recognized [Reddy and Saier, 2020].…”

Section: Viral Food Poisoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eating Animal Products, a Common Cause of Human Diseases

Saier¹,

Baird²,

Reddy³

et al. 2022

Microb Physiol

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The human population is plagued by hundreds of infectious agents that cause diseases, and many of these agents can infect a range of wild and domesticated animals as well. In fact, a large proportion of current pathological conditions in humans is caused by our close association with non-human animals, some of which we keep as pets, but most of which we raise, prepare as food sources, and ingest. It is well established that most of these diseases are caused by a variety of infectious agents, the most important being bacteria, viruses, prions and protozoans. In this article we shall consider these agents and discuss their transmission from various animals and animal products to humans. It is noted than virtually none of these agents are obtained by eating plant-derived products unless the plants are grown and prepared with contaminated water. Consequently, we suggest that Homo sapiens could avoid a significant fraction of the diseases that plague us by shifting to a more vegetarian diet.

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Section: Viral Food Poisoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eating Animal Products, a Common Cause of Human Diseases

Saier¹,

Baird²,

Reddy³

et al. 2022

Microb Physiol

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“…The tendency of frequent re-assortment, genetic mutation, and evolution of emerging pathogens threatens to evolve into a new strain that might be transmitted to humans and human-to-human, or even human to animals or animals to human [22,[67][68][69][70]. Each outbreak being monitored is therefore essential in identifying new strains to avoid the risk of an adverse situation and to minimize the pathogenic transmission as much as possible.…”

Section: Present Containment Strategies Of All Outbreaksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parallel Outbreaks of Deadly Pathogens (SARS-CoV-2, H5N8, EVD, Black Fungi) around East Africa and Asia in 2021: Priorities for Outbreak Management with Socio-Economic and Public Health Impact

Khan

Ema

Rakhi

et al. 2021

COVID

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Concurrent waves of coronavirus disease, Ebola virus disease, avian influenza A, and black fungus are jeopardizing lives in some parts of Africa and Asia. From this point of view, this review aims to summarize both the socio-economic and public health implications of these parallel outbreaks along with their best possible management approaches. Online databases (PubMed/PMC/Medline, Publons, ResearchGate, Scopus, Google Scholar, etc.) were used to collect the necessary information regarding these outbreaks. Based on the reports published and analyses performed so far, the long-lasting impacts caused by these simultaneous outbreaks on global socio-economical and public health status can be conceived from the past experiences of outbreaks, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, prolonged restrictions by the local government may lead to food insecurity, global recession, and an enormous impact on the mental health of people of all ages, specifically in developing countries. Such overwhelming effects have already been reported to be declining the national growth of the economy as well as increasing political insecurity and shortage of basic needs. Although various actions have already been taken, including vaccination, clinical management and further research, social distancing, lockdown, etc., to improve the situation, the emerging variants and associated genetic mutations may make containment difficult, worsening the situation again. So, considering the current mutational dynamics of the pathogens and past experiences, perpetual preparedness along with updated clinical management backed by epidemiological studies and innovative scientific effort are inevitable to combat the simultaneous waves of multiple infectious diseases.

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“…While not everyone can transit to become vegan, most people can easily become primarily vegetarians. This is a characteristic that was most common among our ancestors who lived healthier and longer lives of a higher quality [9]. Another line of recent research has questioned whether plantbased hospital meals should be made mandatory.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%