Origins of COVID-19
Why It Is Important to Know
Throughout history, pandemics have ravaged the Earth. For centuries, diseases have ravaged the world. Infectious diseases have been a part of human history since the beginning. People have always unified when it came to fighting the blights. However, COVID-19 is proving to be different. In fact, outside of the United States, people are choosing to avoid investigating this disease.
History of Pandemics
To understand the current COVID-19 Pandemic and the issues that we are facing, we need to know about other pandemics. The earliest pandemic recorded is the Antonine Plague. Between 165 - 180, 5 million people died of smallpox or measles. Some scholars believe that this pandemic started the fall of the Roman Empire. Despite this occurring thousands of years ago, the world knows where the pandemic originated. It started in Smyrna in 165. Smallpox and measles were the cause of many deaths, leading to outbreaks in Japan and across the world. However, all of the origin points were documented, just like the Antonine Plague. During the Japanese Smallpox Epidemic, the origin was traced to a fisherman in Dazaifu, Fukuoka. The New World Smallpox Pandemic began in Veracruz with the arrival of Panfilo de Narvaez on April 23, 1520. Knowing the origin of these diseases was the best way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. People were able to study these moments in history and eventually find a solution to such a deadly disease. The last naturally occurring smallpox case happened in 1977.
Without a doubt, knowing where and how a virus begins is the best way to solve and cure these diseases. And it took the entire world working together to find a cure. Yet, with COVID-19, the United States is the only one standing up.
COVID-19 Origins
Just like SARS and MERS, COVID-19 comes from a group of bat coronavirus that is found around the world. However, these diseases have started accidentally adapting to human emergence. As a result, people are now susceptible to these viral diseases. Over the last 15 years, many countries have been sitting on coronavirus hotspots. However, China has 100 different species of bats living in the South/Southwest provinces. In fact, the most recent variations of SARS originated in China. Despite knowing this, scientists have refused to increase bat surveillance and research. This is undoubtedly the reason why people cannot figure out where COVID-19 originated from.
Knowing this, it almost seemed like a matter of time before another viral disease came out of the country. However, this is not about punishing or blaming China. This is about finding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. And currently, the world does not know. Outside of the fact that the earliest case of the COVID-19 strain came from Wuhan, how the disease came in contact with humans is unknown. There are many theories, but these are not answers. And we need answers and solutions.
Forget Politics We Need To Know Now
After a year and a half into the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has become known as one of the deadliest diseases in modern history. Despite this, it seems that there is little or no effort to track down the origin. Some people state that it's difficult to find the origin. However, it is hard to believe that in this modern era. After all, Japan was able to find the fisherman that started the entire smallpox epidemic in 735. At this point, it just makes us look incompetent.
This recent pandemic has shown how quickly the coronavirus can evolve. In fact, the transfer between bats and humans/animals is becoming faster. Coronavirus spots are everywhere in the world. And it's not about if the next outbreak happens, but when. If people had been paying attention to these bat populations earlier, COVID-19 may have been prevented. And the fact that there is a good chance that it was made in a lab, the coronavirus came from some strain and nobody is saying anything.
This inability to pinpoint the exact origin of this modern-day pandemic is and should cause people concern. After all, a pandemic with no answers just makes people distrust more. Regardless of all the theories and politics tied around COVID-19, discovering the origin should not be an issue. Whether it is an engineered virus or naturally occurring it is essential to find out. Because the world will be at risk again.
