Since the first announcement by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo on March 2, 2020 regarding positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia, the number of cases has continued to increase until today.
In response to this problem, FMIPA UI held its first Webinar Series on May 14, 2020 via the application. video conference aims to educate the public about the relationship between science and Covid-19.
One of the speakers in this webinar, Prof. Jatna Supriatna, a Professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia from the Department of Biology, provided an understanding to the public regarding the relationship between biodiversity and Covid-19.
The spread of COVID-19 was the focus of the discussion presented by Prof. Jatna. According to him, the virus requires a host to reproduce, and the most vulnerable hosts for the virus to reproduce are wild animals typically found in forests, such as monkeys, rats, and bats.
When forests are destroyed by humans (deforestation), wild animals in the forest lose their homes, leading them to seek other habitats, potentially interacting with local animals such as cattle, domestic pigs, and even cats, ultimately infecting these local animals with viruses. Then, when these local animals interact with humans, the viruses from these local animals infect humans. This process is called Zoonotic Transmission.
In closing, Prof. Jatna said that forest preservation is one way to prevent the spread of viruses that may reappear in the future.
“So, that means if biodiversity "If the forest is good, there won't be any zoonotic transmission, such as viruses coming out of bats," added Prof. Jatna.
