Society organization, not pathogenic viruses, is the fundamental cause of pandemics
Résumé
In cases of emergencies such as pandemics, it is common sense—and somewhat too easy—to design a culprit or enemy, e.g., a pathogenic virus, to be fought and eradicated, thus lessening the human responsibility of the issue. This is the classical strategy of the occidental world where the most diseases and other problems are mainly tackled by treating the symptoms, thus largely overlooking the profound causes (Lichtfouse 2009, 2010). There is now mounting evidence that societal and environmental factors have largely contributed to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic (COVID-19). For instance, since pathogens are occurring widely in nature, one might hypothesize that the pandemic would never have happened without animal-to-human transmission, which is controlled by society organization. Would the pandemic have been so deadly and fast-developing worldwide under low-population levels, density, and travel habits (Fig. 1)? Probably not. In order to prevent future pandemics, which will most likely happen because we have eradicated only the symptomatic virus, we should adopt a more oriental, holistic strategy that considers that the good functioning of any system depends on the good interaction of all its elements, summarized in the term ‘harmony.’ Practically, all societal and environmental factors controlling the pandemic should be studied. Here, we discuss viral transmission, imperfect protection, population density, and urbanization to unveil societal factors controlling pandemics, and to propose societal changes, such as an urban exodus, that would help prevent future pandemics.
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