Want to prevent pandemics? Stop spillovers

Decision-makers discussing landmark agreements on health and biodiversity must include four actions to reduce the risk of animals and people exchanging viruses.

Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X Cattle encroach on the Amazon rainforest in Brazil as trees are burnt to clear land for grazing. Credit: Bruno Kelly/Reuters/Alamy You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF Spillover events, in which a pathogen that originates in animals jumps into people, have probably triggered every viral pandemic that’s occurred since the start of the twentieth century 1 . What’s more, an August 2021 analysis of disease outbreaks over the past four centuries indicates that the yearly probability of pandemics could increase seve

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