Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have seen the emergence and
outbreaks of viral zoonotic diseases. Some of them are new to humans, and
hence we do not have immunity against them and some present reemergence
of old diseases. We have had three pandemics since 2000 – severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS), in 2003, H1N1 (swine flu), in 2009 and now
Covid-19. SARS and Covid-19 spread from civet cats/pangolin and bats in
China and swine flu spread from an intensive pig farm in Mexico. In between,
we have had regional outbreaks of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
(MERS), from camels, Ebola from monkeys and pigs, Rift Valley fever from
livestock, West Nile fever from birds, Zika from monkeys and Nipah from bats.
Successful control of zoonosis requires a judicious legal and policy framework,
well-functioning responsible institutions, adequate financing, rapid detection,
and an intervention implementation plan. Collaborative multidisciplinary and
multinational research will also be needed to explore the linkages among
environmental dynamics, disease vectors, and human susceptibility. Technologies
being developed for the prevention and control of the 21st century viral zoonoses
are outlined.