Where do you think the novel coronavirus originated?

Bruce Aylward: It's from nature.

This virus lived in animals and jumped across the animal-human interface. These things happen with different viruses. We've seen different diseases appear in all parts of the world. That's just the reality.

The fault lies in our relationship with nature. Our populations are growing and we're eroding the environment. We're doing this everywhere in the world. Climate change is moving forward. All of these factors are contributing to what we call these zoonotic diseases, and it won't stop. The important thing is that we work together to look for solutions. China's commitment to international solidarity in all of this is very important, because the next disease like this will appear somewhere else.

Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and leader of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, shares his insights with China Daily in Geneva on March 6.