The world’s media has turned its attention to the coronavirus pandemic.

The virus is understood to have originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread globally, killing around 90,000 people at the time of writing.

But the vast majority of the coverage has failed to examine one crucial fact – the relationship between infectious diseases like the coronavirus and the way we rear and consume animals worldwide.

Coronavirus

This exclusive video, produced and presented by Plant Based News‘ Klaus Mitchell, takes a look at the history of diseases transmitted from animals to humans – and how the way animals are farmed globally creates an environment which makes infectious diseases practically inevitable.

“When any animal is confined in close proximity, with no space to roam, and under immense emotional stress, conditions are ripe for disease,” he says in the video.

“A perfect example is the Spanish flu of 1918. Here, humans were packed together in trenches, malnourished, with the constant stress of combat. Their impaired immunity is likely to have increased the rate of transmission and made the virus highly pathogenic.

“In the same way, livestock are routinely subjected to cramped, confined and unhygienic conditions. Not only does this increase the probability of transmitting a virus, it also raises the prospect of mutations.”

You can find the Plant Based News’ YouTube channel – which features this video alongside many others – here