Covid-19 is very likely a zoonotic disease, which means that it was transmitted from animals to humans. Other dangerous infectious diseases, such as SARS, MERS, Ebola and HIV originated in animals too. In fact, of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, 75% are zoonotic. In this new interview series, Katrien Devolder interviews philosophers and other experts to explore how we might prevent future pandemics. In this episode, Jeff Sebo, Professor of Environmental Studies at NYU, talks about factory farms as breeding grounds for pandemics, and why, if we want to prevent future pandemics, we should consider human and animal health together, and end factory farming.
Video
https://www.youtube.com/embed/YlrmgDIzRJk
About the Series
Thinking Out Loud provides a series of videos and audio-podcasts produced by Katrien Devolder in which she talks to leading philosophers from around the world on topics related to practical ethics. The podcast and videos are intended for a non-specialist audience.
Katrien is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.
You can watch the videos on the Practical Ethics YouTube Channel or listen on Oxford Podcasts.