No doubt, our ancestors couldn't imagine how different modern society would be. People learned how to live comfortably; they built cities and spaceships; they found treasures of the planet and got to know how to use it. Civilization has changed almost everything, but not the human nature. Primitive instincts are genetic: people still live in tribes and have a leader; they still admit the opinion of majority and do not accept differences; they still create the safest environment for themselves and hide behind the impregnable walls. However, there is a real danger around them. Those enemies are everywhere: they can camouflage themselves in the bushes and sand, and fly around the world; they can intoxicate food; they can survive the unbearable conditions of the deepest ocean and intense heat of Sahara. And those small warriors, the invisible microorganisms, are on the mission to extinct mankind.

The crisis is coming. The exhaustion of the natural resources, pollution and global warming, vanishing forests, overpopulation, drugs, murders, the ecological catastrophes and meaningless wars, the unexplored epidemics in the third-world countries and unstable economical situation ruined the fragile balance of the planet and caused the nature's attack. Surely, zoonosis-"the action of the pathogen that can cross to people from other species"- is one of the most destructible weapons against humanity.

Some zoonotic diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, rabies, and bubonic plague are known for centuries. Michael Finkel, the National Geographic journalist, states that malaria "has been with humans since before we were human". The marks of the disease were found in the cells of the Egyptian mummies; even some American presidents were infected with malaria as well as the soldiers in the U.S. Civil War. The infamous epidemics of the bubonic plague took millions of lives back to the Middle Ages; rabies is still a threat for the humans despite all the scientific studies and useless tries to stop the disease. However, the new wave of the deadly infections is coming; Ebola virus, Rift Valley fever, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, Lyme disease, West Nile virus, yellow fever, bird flu - those are the names of the ruthless and faceless assassins. According to the WHO researches, the pathogens of those diseases are transmitted from the animals or insects to the humans, and that transmission occurs because of the close contact between the infected species and Homo sapiens himself. But why weren't the new "assassins" known before? What are the suitable conditions for catching the lethal virus? Who is the one to blame for?

After years of the intense and dangerous exploration, after thousands of scientific experiments, after millions of deaths, the hero of the occasion was discovered. He has unleashed the fatal bacteria and parasites and created the environment for their proper reproduction and existence; he has rebuilt the Frankenstein, the ideal weapon against himself. He is the human, who reaps the fruits of civilization and uses the natural reserves without a limit, who doesn't care about "mythological" global warming, who is surprised about massive forest fires in California and hurricanes in India; he is the human who is seeking safety and comfort literally destroying his future well being. Modern scientists confirm the view that the human intervention into the ecosystems, which is reveals itself in the mass forest destruction, global warming, and extinction of the endangered species, is a main cause of the zoonosis phenomenon.

One of the easiest ways to catch the deadly and unstudied virus is to use the meat or the remains of the infected wild animal as food, medicine, or illegally sell the endangered species as pets. According to the well-known scientist David Quammen, "over two million reptiles are imported yearly to the U.S. - each a potential carrier for disease". Monkeys, Amazonian parrots, snake - all those fashionable pets can be the hosts for the incurable viruses, parasites, or bacteria. However, the majorities of the cases occur while killing and eating the wild primates - gorillas, chimpanzees- or using the parts of the animals such as teeth, liver, and heart during the rituals or while creating the alternative medicine.

First of all, the main consumers of the bush meat are the local residents because for the majority of population of the third-world countries the wild animals' meat is the only source of protein, yet it's cheaper and locally grown. They hunt for gorillas and monkeys, which are the hosts of HIV and Ebola virus; they kill the species or pick up their dead bodies in the jungles where almost everything is unpredictable. Clearly, the preference to eat an "organic" food is a result not only of the cultural differences, but poor economic situation of those areas. People sell and buy the prey to feed their families, but the long-awaited meal can be the last. Laurie Garrett, the Pulitzer Prize winner reporter and science correspondent, who once was the researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, unveils the dramatic discovery story of the lethal Ebola virus. She says that the first case of Ebola was registered in 1976 at the Yambuku Mission Hospital in Zaire, when one of the villagers asked to cure his "malaria" and died after two days of bleeding and fever. After that tragic death, which was the beginning of the epidemic, the group of researchers discovered the virus in the blood cells of chimpanzee found in the jungles. The first victim of the disease fed his family with a meat of the infected animal, and the virus had spread. Nowadays, Ebola is the most dangerous disease on Earth, and the cradle of the "killer" is Africa with its unstable economical situation, poverty, lack of medical facility, and impassable rainforests. But the lethal microorganisms are the treat for the wealthy countries too. There are several cases of the illegal bush meat trade leaded to the infamous end.

Infected wild animals are used as a part of the rituals or as a medication not only in the developing countries, but in some immigrant communities in U.S. The National Fish and Wildlife Agency's lab in Ashland, Oregon, found out the tiger's meat at the counter of The Illinois butcher shop; monkeys are eaten during some rituals according to African traditions; bear gall bladders are the most powerful medicine in Asia. Those animals are mostly in the endangered lists, and can be the carriers of the diseases. Therefore, the extermination of the nonhuman species either for food or import is dangerous not just for the health of the planet, but for the people because those exotic animals can leave them with the unexpected present-deadly virus or bacteria. WHO reports that situation with the public health is unstable and many outbreaks of incurable diseases occur. Thousands of people die yearly because they are following traditions of their nations: the Africans eat monkeys; the Indians share the meat, which possibly infected with bovine TB, with the poor during the holidays; the Asians cure fevers and pneumonia with tiger's heart and eagle's eye, but in exchange they can get or give something more horrifying. In the world "out of balance" full of conflicts, deaths, fanatics, and lack of humanity, it is late to look for the remedy in the ancient books; it is dangerous to ask for the help from the alternative healers or shamans; it is restricted to share the food with people in need and cherish the traditions. Humans created the monster which exterminates them despite of the social status or salary. Therefore, they have to seek the cure by keeping the health of their fragile world, taking care about the ecosystems, and respecting the nature around them.

But the new diseases emerge not just because of the animal extinction. The famous global warming, the unexplainable and incomprehensible phenomenon, has something to do with it too. There is more behind the scenes of that popular topic than future loss of penguins' habitat, melting Arctic ice, aggravated allergies, disappearing of the polar bears, floods, forest fires, hurricanes, and heat waves which are killing thousands of people every year ("Top Ten"). There is a truly threat for mankind - the future epidemics, and people are those to blame for. Nowadays, thanks to mass media, almost everybody knows that global warming is a result of the green house effect which was arisen because of the water and air pollution by chemical waste of civilization. Ecological scientists, along with the well-known scientist Robert Shope, believe that even insignificant change of world temperature of 1° can broad the habitat of two dangerous insects: Aedes aegupti, which carries dengue virus and yellow fever, and a tsetse fly, which is "known to be more active ... at higher ambient temperatures". However, the first "assassin" has not just the pathogens of yellow fever; the mosquito is famous as a transmitter of malaria, the scourge of the tropical zones of the planet, which can travel and prosper on the new territories thanks to the global warming. World Health Organization considers malaria elimination the number one priority. The merciless disease endangers half the world's population, and it is present in 106 countries. Malaria is almost incurable; the majority of its victims are children. The infected person can either die because of fever and seizures or stay alive experiencing the serious complications such as loss of hearing, problems with walking, and liver and brain deficiencies. During the time period between 1930th and 1950th the diseases was eliminated in U.S., but today malaria returns to the wealthy countries due to the warmer and more humid weather. Malaria doesn't come alone. Duane J. Gubler from the division of Vector borne Infectious Diseases claims that St. Louis encephalitis and western equine encephalitis are reappearing in the United States because of the climate changes; floods, wet and warm winters, cold springs, and dry summers are the perfect conditions for the mosquitoes' reproduction and feeding.

Global warming has expanded the habitat of the "flying syringes" multiplying the sad statistics of infectious diseases. However, there are some unexpected influences of higher temperatures towards the other kinds of infection carriers. First of all, the global warming affects the mutations of massive colonies of algae and viruses; the high levels of chemical pesticides, hazardous and human fecal waste get into the rivers, lakes, and oceans and increase the process of the reproduction and mutation. The infected algae and antibiotic-resistant bacteria are ingested by the mollusks of the coastal zone which usually are served at the restaurants. The spread of the rodent borne diseases - hantanavirus, leptospirosis, and plague - is associated with the weather as well. Scientists determine that the animals' populations grow while an "increased rainfall" and floods.

They say that every great civilization was destroyed from within. No doubt, the phenomenon of global warming, carefully handcrafted by the humans, proves the theory of the apocalypse. People are fighting against themselves trying to conquer the nature and occupy the neutral territories. But the nature strikes back and regulate mankind protecting itself from the future losses and defeats.

The extinction of the endangered species and global warming are the important consequences of human interference in the ecosystems which cause the rise of the new deadly diseases and spread of the known infections. However, the scientists assure that the forest destruction is the main reason of the zoonotic outbreaks, and it can lead to the pandemics around the world. Due to the fact of habitat disappearance the animals try to adapt to the changes, so they abandon the settled territories and move to the new areas which are usually located near the people. The stories of Hendra, Machupo, and Nipah outbreaks are the perfect illustrations of how the human influence towards the nature can turn out to be destructive to the invaders.

Karl Johson and his team of the medical researchers discovered the deadly Machupo virus in Bolivia in 1962. The villagers were suffered from the hemorrhagic fevers and internal bleedings. The real challenge for the scientists was to find the original "host" of the disease and the reasons of the "spillover". The reservoir of the infection was the colony of the field mice banished from their original habitat because of the jungle elimination. The locals created the corn fields which supplied the village with food. However, Colomys field mice preferred the corn ears too. Almost the same way the "spillover" of Hendra and Nipah viruses occurred. At the first case the flying foxes, the host animals, were forced to the suburbs because their original eucalyptus forests were chopped off. The Nipah outbreak, which caused 105 human deaths and loss of 1,1 million pigs, was provoked by the migration of the fruit bats which lost their usual habitat and moved to the people territories.

The majority of those lethal diseases are emerged in the tropical zones of the planet. Clearly, it is associated with the difficult weather conditions of the rainforest, lack of medical facilities in the hospitals, impossibility to reach the victims of the disease who usually refuse to accept the treatment. The viruses travel around the world, and nobody knows whom it is going to strike next. Nevertheless, there are some examples of man made epidemics even in the U.S. The Lyme disease firstly emerged in 1975 in Connecticut. The scientists found out that the host of the bacterium was a tick who likes to feed on deer's blood. But what is the connection between deer's tick and humans? The story began with the landing of the Pilgrims who were clearing the local forests to build the villages. By the late 18th century the trees became the fuel for the iron industry, and lately the new ecology turned out to be "just as artificial as a concrete parking lot". The carnivores didn't come back to that area, so the deer population increased. That is how the bacterium got its way to the suburban yards. Nowadays Lyme disease is one of the most common zoonosis in the U.S.

Forest extinction influences the disappearance of the endangered species and affects the global warming phenomenon as well. Vanishing habitats of the African primates make them move to the new territories causing the spread of HIV, Ebola virus, and monkey pox; many members of the group are dying while searching the new place to live. The infections usually coexist sedately with the host, but who knows what the breaking point will be. The green house effect depends on the forest destruction too; the less trees to process CO2 and to product oxygen, the more chance of the ozon4 exhaustion, and higher probability of increasing the habitats of infection carriers such as rodents, bats, ticks, and mosquitoes.

The world's ecosystems consist of many important compounds, but if that fragile balance is broken, the catastrophes will occur. Clearly, humans are indifferent to the environment; they are cruel, selfish and greedy creatures, which are used to destroy themselves by their own. People are unexplainable; their intellectual abilities are almost unlimited, but they continue polluting the planet with the utilized waste; they pour the chemicals into the water they drink, and chop down the trees which protect them from the climate change. They fight with the nature's forces and disasters and restore their dwellings; they fight for the comfort and lose to themselves.

They say that it is hard to return something which was already lost. The global warming is here, ice is melting, and people are suffering from the deadly diseases. But that plague can be stopped. The medical scientists from around the globe are trying to solve the problem of the zoonotic diseases. They are creating the vaccines; they are looking for the reasons of the "spillovers"; they explore the economic aspects of the zoonosis effect; they offer to vaccinate the host reservoir; they monitor the diseases and read the statistics. The young and ambitious researchers are looking for the cure everywhere. The latest malaria medicine, for example, is created from the Artemisia weed. The recipe was found in the Chinese medical book written in the fourth century A.D. There are vaccines for yellow fever, bovine TB, rabies, and monkey pox, but the difficulties come along with success. The highly adaptive lethal microorganisms often develop resistance to the medicine, and the new search begins. The second obstacle is a lack of education among the most vulnerable to the diseases groups of society. Most of the outbreaks occur in Africa, Asia, and South American regions, where people usually worried about food more than global warming. They do not want to recognize the modern medicine; they do not admit the invaders and prefer to seek help from the local healers. But the majority of the diseases can be stopped by proper behavior and knowledge: nets can save people from malaria and yellow fever; clean water can solve the problem of plague and TB; timely vaccination can keep a child alive.

Therefore, the problem of zoonotic diseases is a concern for mankind. It is still possible to prevent many dreadful epidemics by educating people of developing and wealthy countries about the current situation, by taking care about the nature and looking for the alternative sources of energy, by keeping the health of the ecosystems and celebrating the beauty of the planet. People have to find the way to coexist peacefully with all its living creatures because the price they are going to pay for their present actions is higher than the price of the leopard fur coat or steak from gorilla.