Topic:GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
GS-3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
6. To prevent the next pandemic, it is essential for us to understand zoonotic diseases and invest in an in-depth understanding of environmental linkages with zoonotic diseases. Explain. (250 words)
Reference: ilri.org
Why the question:
The question is about understanding the zoonotic diseases, their underlying causes and solutions to address them.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss the need to understand the zoonotic diseases in order to better prevent and mitigate the pandemic like situations.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with the definition of Zoonotic disease or with some key data related to it.
Body:
It is a disease that has passed into the human population from an animal source directly or through an intermediary species. Zoonotic infections can be bacterial, viral, or parasitic in nature, with animals playing a vital role in maintaining such infections.
Examples of zoonoses include HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Lyme disease, malaria, rabies, West Nile fever, and the current novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disease.
Explain the factors responsible for it – Increased demand for animal-derived food, Intensive farm settings cause animals to be raised close to each other, loss of forest cover for agricultural purposes, Environment-Wildlife Interface, Utilization of natural resources etc.
Then explain the need to invest in an in-depth understanding of environmental linkages with zoonotic diseases.
Conclusion:
Conclude that there is an immediate need to invest in an in-depth understanding of environmental linkages with zoonotic diseases, monitoring of such diseases in human-dominated environments, investigating how environmental change or degradation is impacting zoonotic disease emergence.
