The Lancet-PPATS Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover: reducing the risk of pandemics through primary prevention.

The health and economic impacts from infectious disease emergence are substantial. 1 Bernstein AS Ando AW Loch-Temzelides T et al. The costs and benefits of primary prevention of zoonotic pandemics. Sci Adv. 2022; 8eabl4183 Crossref Scopus (66) Google Scholar Pathogens that are transmitted, or spill over, between animals and people are the source of most emerging infectious diseases in humans. 2 Jones KE Patel NG Levy MA et al. Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature. 2008; 451: 990-993 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4938) Google Scholar Indeed, spillovers sparked five viral pandemics from 1918 through to 2009 (1918 influenza, 1957–58 influenza, 1968 influenza, 2009 influenza, and HIV), and peer-reviewed evidence strongly suggests that COVID-19 was the result of spillovers too. 3 US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionPast pandemics. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/basics/past-pandemics.htmlDate accessed: August 7, 2023 Google Scholar , 4 Worobey M Han G-Z Rambaut A Genesis and pathogenesis of the 1918 pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014; 111: 8107-8112 Crossref PubMed Scopus (160) Google Scholar , 5 Kawaoka Y Krauss S Webster RG Avian-to-human transmission of the PB1 gene of influenza A viruses in the 1957 and 1968 pandemics. J Virol. 1989; 63: 4603-4608 Crossref PubMed Scopus (0) Google Scholar , 6 Mena I Nelson MI Quezada-Monroy F et al. Origins of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in swine in Mexico. eLife. 2016; 5e16777 Crossref Scopus (187) Google Scholar , 7 Sharp PM Hahn BH Origins of HIV and the AIDS pandemic. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2011; 1a006841 Crossref PubMed Scopus (778) Google Scholar , 8 Pekar JE Magee A Parker E et al. The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2. Science. 2022; 377: 960-966 Crossref PubMed Scopus (65) Google Scholar , 9 Worobey M Levy JI Malpica Serrano L et al. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Science. 2022; 377: 951-959 Crossref PubMed Scopus (99) Google Scholar Spillovers are a reminder that humans are inherently part of nature and that human wellbeing is intertwined with that of animals and the environment. As such, adopting a One Health approach when addressing viral pandemic threats is imperative. 10 Keusch GT Amuasi JH Anderson DE et al. Pandemic origins and a One Health approach to preparedness and prevention: solutions based on SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2022; 119e2202871119 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar