Mexico: stopping the next pandemic

Covid-19 is still a big problem. But now, scientists are thinking about the next pandemic.

In Mexico, scientists are looking at 'zoonoses'. Zoonoses are a type of disease. They travel from animals to people. The animals are sometimes birds. They can be mammals too, like rats or bats.

Rosa Elena Sarmiento is a university scientist at UNAM. She's one of the team.

Rosa Elena Sarmiento: "So what this project aims to do is to have this knowledge in order to be able to predict future pandemics if possible, which is what has just happened to us recently, with the knowledge of which viruses are circulating, so that we can give a risk map of these areas and put the red lights where they should be."

The team's working on a project in Mexico's Yucatan jungle. Things are changing there. The area's losing trees. There are more tourists too. So, people and animals are living close together. Animals have more than 500,000 viruses. The team checks local people's blood. It's looking for animal viruses.

Audrey Arnal's an expert.

Audrey Arnal: "If there are viruses that are also in the wild and in the human population, we know that in these viruses we have to develop surveillance and prevention strategies because a slightly more virulent strain can develop and then an epidemic can occur."

The project learns about local people. And it teaches them to live in a safe way. It helps people live with nature.

Projects like this are important. They might stop the next pandemic.

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