COVID-19

Zoonotic diseases are human bacterial and viral infections that originate in animals and which cross the species barrier. Over the course of the 21st century the process of viruses transiting across the species barrier appears to have accelerated as a succession of new diseases have emerged, most notably COVID-19. This chapter argues that the forces accelerating the emergence of zoonotics lie in the structural characteristics of the capitalist world food system, which is concerned with the production of commodities whose value can be realized through market sales that generate profits for the producer of the commodities. As a result, there is a co-morbidity between COVID-19 and the capitalist world food system. © A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Kristina Dietz, Bettina Engels and Ben M. McKay 2021.