Understanding COVID’s Origins to Prevent Future Pandemics | Media Briefing

As more people get the COVID-19 vaccine, light appears at the end of a long, bleak tunnel. But there’s far more work to do to stave off the next global virus outbreak – a future pandemic that experts say is likely if not assured.

There are plenty of improvements possible, from closer relationships between public health officials and food producers to a more cohesive, global virus response network. Three Duke experts discussed these and other issues Thursday in a virtual briefing for media.


𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬

Dr. Gregory Gray is a professor of medicine, global health and environmental health at Duke. He also holds appointments at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and Duke Kunshan University in China. He has studied infectious diseases for 25 years across five continents.

Stuart Pimm is a professor of conservation ecology at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. He is on a team that found reducing deforestation and the wildlife trade could help prevent future pandemics.

Linfa Wang is a professor in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and a faculty member with the Duke Global Health Institute. He studies the transmission of viruses from bats to humans and has researched the origins of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus.

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
This video is part of a series of media briefings where Duke experts speak on current issues.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲
A private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University is known as one of the world’s leading institutions for education, research, and patient care.

𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 #𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲

[hokeypokeypots]

I wish someone would answer the question of why the NIH was funding gain of function research of the original CoV in 2019...at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

[JohnCurgenven]

I suggest that more initiatives to address the market for wildlife products are needed - John Curgenven LRPS, Friend of Photographers Against Wildlife Crime - @t