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The Path to Human Extinction

  • Writer: Admin - Aina Ferris
    Admin - Aina Ferris
  • Apr 9, 2020
  • 5 min read

Updated: Jan 12, 2022


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We are a species of fools. We have beguiled ourselves with the notion that humans were at the pinnacle of the food chain; that our attributes, which have evolved throughout millennia, were superior over other living beings. Yet here we are in the year 2020, cowering in fear of a biological entity far miniscule for an electron microscope to fully capture its spike proteins and nucleocapsid. Homosapien reality check: Done.


Merely five weeks ago, there were nine reported deaths in the United States caused by the coronavirus pandemic. As of April 9, 2020, the number of deaths attributed to SARS-CoV-2, popularly known as COVID-19, skyrocketed to over 16,200.* The novel strain has currently spread to six continents and the death toll worldwide is approximately at 88,529. Italy alone has reported 17,669 deaths.** Despite this alarming data, health experts in the US continue to warn us that the worse is yet to be expected before the shocking figure plateaus in the country.


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The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) strain depicted in this molecular landscape by computational structural biologist, Dr. David Goodsell*** was based on collective data on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak triggered in Asia in 2003.+ According to China-based zoologist and EcoHealth Alliance president, Dr. Peter Daszack, PhD, the novel mutation is a close cousin-- with 92.6% accuracy-- to the virus found in an infected Horseshoe bat (potentially Rhinolophus sinicus) in 2013 in South China.++

"Most wildlife diseases just stay in wildlife but sometimes they can mutate in a way that can jump those species barriers. It is an incredibly rare event," says Prof. Kate Jones of the University College London
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It is estimated that two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans come from animals. Daszack explains the coronavirus may have found its way from bats to humans through direct exposure.++ A number of wildlife species are considered a delicacy or are believed to be a significant ingredient in most Chinese wellness regimen. Hunters consistently encroach on wildlife habitats and take live specimens to local markets to be butchered and sold to the public. Another host animal (i.e. swine, poultry) may have hypothetically come in contact with the infected bat and passed the virus along to the residents in Wuhan. This act of infringing upon wildlife territory by humans is a shared practice worldwide. Prof. Kate Jones, professor of ecology and biodiversity at the University College London said in an interview with CBS News, "Most wildlife diseases just stay in wildlife but sometimes they can mutate in a way that can jump those species barriers. It is an incredibly rare event!"

"We are changing landscapes and encroaching into systems at a scale that we have never done before," said Jones, explaining that human destruction of natural landscapes is altering the interactions between animals and humans — which also changes the dynamics of the transmission of viruses.++

In prioritizing the survival and gain of the human species, we are indubitably tipping the scale of biodiversity against all of creation-- including ourselves. In New York, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies disease ecologist, Dr. Richard Ostfeld warns us through his CBS News interview, "When predators disappear, often their prey, such as rats and mice, increase. Rats and mice are the sources of many of the pathogens that jump from wildlife to humans."++


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With over six decades of scientific analysis backing their research, Daszack and his team have discovered that around 30% of emerging diseases originate from animal hosts displaced from their natural territory. The more ecosystems we disturb and convert into livestock farms, agricultural land, and urbanized commercial and residential projects, the closer we push humans and potential pathogen-carrying wildlife together into one hazardous virus-filled Petri dish. It takes years for an animal-borne disease to mutate and turn into a pandemic bent on exterminating the human population. When this particular strain of coronavirus achieved full potency last December 2019... it was ready to make world history.


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What now?


In another interview this time by Mary Harris, author of "A Warning from a Scientist who Saw the Coronavirus Coming," Daszack suggests we deal with pandemics as "a process and not just as individual pathogens". He stresses the need to study emerging diseases in wildlife on a global scale and for a universal coronavirus vaccine to combat all types of coronaviruses. We need public health messages to reach emerging disease hotspots worldwide. Local residents need to be taught real-world application and follow-through methods to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading diseases. Moreover, advocates must help communicate the significance of a more sustainable approach to doing business. "Sustainability regarding our health and the environment should be part (of the process)," advises Daszack.+++


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It may be spring according to our calendars, yet it seems we are in the thick of an arctic winter. Stay home. Stay in the warmth of the ones physically and emotionally accessible to you now. Like a seed that requires stratification over winter, we need to mature. This very moment, as you stay hunkered down, assess what you need to do right in your own back yard. Should you be more "present" to the people you hold dear? Should you be kinder to yourself? Should you pay more attention to your choice of words and actions and how they affect those around you? Should you behold your spirituality, strength, and self-awareness? Have they been blurred by a world of distractions? Should you, as a human being, serve a purpose other than ensuring your position at the top of the food chain?


With a population of 7.8 billion, it is natural for humans to seek out, occupy, and partake of the Earth's resources. However, as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic stretches our days into weeks and weeks into months, please take this time to consider the plight of other living creatures that like us, rightfully lay claim to the planet.


In the 11 weeks China was on lockdown, its people witnessed a miracle: a sky so blue. Perhaps soon, we shall emerge from the confines of prescribed isolation, like a seedling ready to fulfill its true purpose.


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[ For my sister and her father-in-law. One in the medical trenches battling this pandemic.

The other lost the fight against the disease on April 6,2020 R.I.P. ]


About the author:

Aina R. Ferris is a multi-platform content writer, designer, photographer, illustrator, and international award winning B2B marketing creative director. She is co-founder of the homeowner education initiative, The Native Explorer. Its mission is to promote wildlife conservation through thoughtful home landscaping (aka naturescaping) with plants native to one's home state. Aina serves as projects planner and communications lead. Her husband Brian Ferris, a certified sustainability associate, serves as plant researcher and lead gardener. The Native Explorer offers its services free of charge. For more information, visit their website: TheNativeExplorer.org. For the most current posts and updates, visit their The Native Explorer Facebook page: @Wildlings.of.StLouis. For inquiries, please email The.Native.Explorer@gmail.com.


*Reported by CBS This Morning and CBS News with Norah O'Donnell, April 8 - 9, 2020; statistics will increase exponentially daily




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