COVID-19: the importance of epidemic prevention measures

Barcelona, ​​9 December 2020. Improving pandemic preparedness and management research and management is the title of the report published by the European Commission on COVID-19 which includes, among other scientific contributions, the article published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine ( May, 2020) by a team with the participation of experts Jordi Serra-Cobo and Marc López, from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona.

The article cited by the publication of the European authorities reviews the unique conjunction of events that allowed the global expansion of this new coronavirus, which shows a long incubation period, a high number of asymptomatic cases and high mobility. international. The work, whose first author is Roger Frutos, of the Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD, France), also involves Christian A. Devaux, of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

According to the authors, the emergence of COVID-19 is the result of an extraordinary coincidence of biological and social factors that allowed it to emerge and expand around the world. More specifically, the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in this Asian country has also been linked to wildlife.

"Environmental alterations and the anthropization of natural systems affect the loss of habitats and biodiversity. But they also affect the dynamics of the reservoir species of pathogens and increase the probability of infecting the human species ", explains Professor Jordi Serra-Cobo, who is a professor in the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and a member of the CONVAT project. , promoted by the European Union for the rapid detection of coronavirus through nanodevices.

"Preparation and education are therefore the highest priority. There should be an international effort, and it is essential that governments be able to anticipate and prepare to stop the next pandemic at its point of origin instead of simply reacting and causing the long-term destruction of our society and economy as it's happening today ", concludes the article in which Serra Cobo and Marc López participate.

In the context of COVID-19, it should also be remembered that Professor Jordi Serra Cobo is the principal investigator of the Emerging Viruses in Catalonia project, an initiative included in the Mecenes UB 2020 Program and aimed at highlighting the scientific relevance of epidemic prevention measures.

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