Preparing For The Next Pandemic After COVID-19

What is a zoonotic disease?

This pandemic-preparedness talk hands you a useful term and defines it on the spot: «the zoonotic disease, which is a fancy name for an animal disease transferred to a human». A zoonotic disease spreads from animals to people, and many of history’s worst outbreaks, from rabies to COVID-19, began exactly this way.

The word joins Greek zoon (“animal”) with the “-otic” ending, and you’ll hear “zoonosis” for the jump itself. The talk sets it beside smallpox, polio, Ebola, and AIDS to make its point: outbreaks recur. A handy, increasingly common word for anyone who follows the news on health.