Microbial ecology and evolution is key to pandemics: using the coronavirus model to mitigate future public health challenges

Pandemics are global challenges that lead to total disruption of human activities. From the inception of human existence, all pandemics have resulted in loss of human lives. The coronavirus disease caused by SAR-CoV-2 began in China and is now at the global scale with an increase in mortality and morbidity. Numerous anthropogenic activities have been implicated in the emergence and severity of pandemics, including COVID-19. These activities cause changes in microbial ecology, leading to evolution due to mutation and recombination. This review hypothesized that an understanding of these anthropogenic activities would explain the dynamics of pandemics. The recent coronavirus model was used to study issues leading to microbial evolution, towards preventing future pandemics. Our review highlighted anthropogenic activities, including deforestation, mining activities, waste treatment, burning of fossil fuel, as well as international travels as drivers of microbial evolution leading to pandemics. Furthermore, human-animal interaction has also been implicated in pandemic incidents. Our study recommends substantial control of such anthropogenic activities as having been highlighted as ways to reduce the frequency of mutation, reduce pathogenic reservoirs, and the emergence of infectious diseases.