Necessity is the mother of invention, and sometimes even the worst of circumstances brings with it a good opportunity. After I had ankle surgery on March 13 I couldn’t wrestle large pieces of fabric, so I decided to work with smaller panels for the very first time. My ankle surgery coincided with the nationwide shutdown due to Covid-19. From my safe and cozy bed, surrounded by cats and with my foot perpetually elevated, I contemplated how to purposefully use this extraordinary period in my life in which I was immobilized—as was everyone else. When I read that the coronavirus possibly jumped from bats to pangolins and from there onto humans at a so-called “wet market” in Wuhan, the idea for the zoonotic disease quilt was born.
It is estimated that more than two thirds of all infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature (that is, a disease that can be transmitted from animals to people), and scientists have long warned that overpopulation and increasing population density will make zoonotic diseases more and more common—and more and more deadly—in the decades to come.
As humans burn down forest to harvest wood and make space for farming, as they encroach on animal habitats, as sea and humidity levels rise, we are more exposed to animal-borne viruses, bacteria and parasites. Studies have shown, for example, that deforested tropical regions hold more potentially harmful mosquito species than pristine tropical forests.
Sandflies carrying Leishmania have infected Foxhounds in the U.S., a breed that seems particularly susceptible to the disease
To someone living in Europe or the US, zoonotic, mosquito-borne diseases, such as Yellow Fever, Zika, Leishmaniasis or Malaria might seem far away and abstract, but global warming and our ability to hop on a plane and carry deadly contagions with us have made us more and more vulnerable. Leishmaniasis, caused by a protozoan parasite found in dogs and rodents and spread by mosquitos, was once confined to tropical countries, but climate change has increased its prevalence in the U.S. Or take e.coli and the swine flu (H1N1), for example, both diseases that spread easily from person to person. If there is anything we should have learned from the repeated outbreaks it is the undeniable fact that there is a strong link between modern “factory farming” and the rise of dangerous bacteria and hybrid influenza virus strains and that rarely are diseases confined to just one particular area. Not only do pigs, cows and chickens suffer immensely as they are housed in cramped quarters and transported long distances, this inhumane treatment also facilitates the easy spread of diseases.
You would think that humans would recognize this threat and evolve, but no, quite the opposite. In 1998, North Carolina’s pig population hit ten million, up from two million just six years before. At the same time, the number of hog farms was decreasing, from 15,000 in 1986 to 3,600 in 2000. How do five times more animals fit on almost five times fewer farms? By crowding about 25 times more pigs into each operation. Kurt Rossow, a veterinary pathologist from the University of Minnesota stated the obvious in the magazine Science: “With a group of 5,000 animals, if a novel virus shows up, it will have more opportunity to replicate and potentially spread than in a group of 100 pigs on a small farm.”
Causing 60.8 million illnesses, 273,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S. alone H1N1’s rage (and range) was devastating. Not as devastating as the current toll of Covid-19, though, which, as of this writing has sickened 740,746 and killed 39,201 in the U.S.
The coronavirus is thought to have jumped from bat to pangolin to human
Another threat that facilitates the easy spread of zoonotic diseases is ignorance of scientific evidence. The endangered pangolin, for example, is one the world’s most illegally trafficked animals because its meat is considered a delicacy and its scales are thought to possess medicinal properties. Recently China has issued a decision “Comprehensively Prohibiting the Illegal Trade of Wild Animals, Eliminating the Bad Habits of Wild Animal Consumption and Protecting the Health and Safety of the People.” But lacking enforcement, people will continue to hunt and torture the shy, peaceful and beautiful pangolin for his fingernail-like scales, which are said to cure arthritis, infertility, cancer, and lactation difficulties. Having driven the pangolin close to extinction in Asia, poachers are now targeting African Pangolins.
Bats, who are known to carry the deadly Ebola virus, are considered a delicacy in large parts of Africa, where deadly epidemics have occurred sporadically. In other parts of the world they are used as medicine.
As long as we don’t curb overpopulation, address climate change and treat animals humanely—as long as Bolivians suck bat blood to stop seizures and the Chinese eat the feces of flying squirrels to stop excessive bleeding—we will pay with the devastating outbreaks of zoonotic diseases.
The plague quilt measures 45x45 inches and is made entirely from recycled fabric to protect the environment. For further plague readings, follow my Instagram at @animalquilter, where I’ve added a little educational narrative to each plague panel.