ARTE Distribution

From Thailand to Vietnam, Kenya to the Netherlands, Peru to the United States, and Canada to France, an international investigation into the origins of pandemics and the measures being taken to prevent future outbreaks.

A new infectious disease emerges every four months on average worldwide. Ebola, Zika, bird flu, swine flu, Lyme disease, monkey pox... Three quarters of these infections originate from an animal reservoir.
 
Scientists around the world are identifying viruses and bacteria in the field that could become dangerous to humans and they are tracking their movements to prevent or slow the next pandemic.
 
But today, these researchers are sounding the alarm. For them, human behavior is fully responsible for the emergence of new diseases. By subjugating nature, man is altering ecosystems and causes epidemics to emerge in previously inaccessible territories. By provoking the extinction of species and by producing and consuming animal proteins at an unprecedented level, humans are destroying the biodiversity that protects against certain diseases. By deforesting the planet, turning forests into farmland, urbanizing the natural habitat of thousands of species, building roads in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, consuming bushmeat and mining for gold, humans are multiplying their interactions with wildlife. This is favoring the transmission of diseases that were previously considered unlikely. With 10 billion people expected by the end of the century, our impact on the planet is tipping us into an era of pandemics.
 
Nevertheless, solutions do exist, scientists explain. It is time to put biodiversity back at the center of our agenda and consider that human, animal and environmental health are interdependent. Change our way of life, to protect mankind...