Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #zoonoticdisease, aggregated by home.social.
Bird Flu Kills First Dolphin in Australia, Raising Fears for Its Wildlife
The dolphin found near Goolwa was a common dolphin, like the one in the image. Credit: Wikimedia Commons…
#NewsBeep #News #Health #AU #Australia #avianinfluenza #birdflu #commondolphin #dolphins #furseals #H5N1 #marinemammals #wildlifeconservation #wildlifedisease #zoonoticdisease
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/877504/
The First Pandemic? Scientists Find 214 Ancient Pathogens In Prehistoric DNA
Shutterstock Scientists have uncovered DNA from 214 ancient pathogens in prehistoric humans, including the oldest known evidence of plague. The findings show zoonotic diseases began spreading around 6,500 years ago, likely triggered by farming and animal domestication. These ancient infections may still influence us today, and help guide the vaccines of tomorrow…….Continue reading…. By: University of Copenhagen – The Faculty of Health and Medical […]
https://www.europesays.com/africa/249623/ Avoid Bush Meat to Prevent Ebola Spread, Physicians Warn #BushMeat #DiseaseOutbreak #ebola #EbolaPrevention #HealthAdvisory #InfectiousDiseases #NCDC #Nigeria #NigeriaHealth #PublicHealth #ZoonoticDisease #ZoonoticDiseases
https://www.europesays.com/dk/77293/ KLM Flight Attendant Tested For Hantavirus, Says Dutch Health Ministry #AirlineCrewHealthRisk #AirlineHealthAlert #Amsterdam #DutchHealthMinistry #DutchHealthMinistryHantavirusStatement #EmergingInfectiousDiseaseEurope #FlightAttendant #GlobalHealthNews #Hantavirus #HantavirusCaseEurope #HantavirusOutbreak #InfectiousDisease #InternationalDiseaseSurveillance #KlmAirline #KLMFlightAttendantHantavirus #Netherlands #PublicHealthAlert #WHOHantavirusAlert #ZoonoticDisease
Uganda's Python Cave: A Crucible for Viral Spillover
See how bats in Uganda's Python Cave spread Marburg virus to 14 animals. Humans also visit the cave. Learn about the risk.
#UgandaVirus, #MarburgVirus, #BatToHuman, #ZoonoticDisease, #WildlifeSafety
https://newsletter.tf/uganda-cave-bats-spread-virus-to-animals-humans/
Footage shows 14 different animals, like leopards and monkeys, eating bats with Marburg virus in Uganda's Python Cave. This is more than last year's findings.
#UgandaVirus, #MarburgVirus, #BatToHuman, #ZoonoticDisease, #WildlifeSafety
https://newsletter.tf/uganda-cave-bats-spread-virus-to-animals-humans/
Illegal and legal wildlife trade fuelling animal-to-human disease transmission, report finds
The global wildlife trade — both legal and illegal — is fuelling animal-to-human disease transmission, according to new…
#NewsBeep #News #Environment #animal-to-humandiseasetransmission #AU #Australia #livemarket #mpox #Science #Wildlife #wildlifetrade #Zoonoses #zoonoticdisease #zoonoticdiseases
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/596460/
Airports in Asia strengthen health screenings amid Nipah Virus outbreak
9.3% Of Earth’s Land Flagged In New Outbreak Risk Map
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https://www.earth.com/news/93-of-earths-land-flagged-in-new-outbreak-risk-map-pr25/ <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw6363 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #global #outbreak #risk #hazard #publichealth #publicsafety #death #AI #machinelearning #remotesensing #earthobservation #epidemic #pandemic #disease #environment #cost #highrisk #mediumrisk #zoonotic #zoonoticdisease #climate #climatechange #temperature #extremeweather #pluvial #rainfall #precipitation #water #hydrology #drought #landuse #changes #deforestation #population #demographics #livestock #biodiversity #mitigation #planning #response #monitoring
@EUCommission | @WHO
Multiple raccoons found to have rabies in Slate Belt area, police say | Slate Belt Area
Authorities in the Slate Belt area of Northampton County are warning residents about multiple raccoons that were found…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Wildlife #northampton-county #rabies #raccoons #Science #slate-belt #zoonoticdisease
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/256416/
vaartha live news : Rabies deaths : One death every nine minutes
https://vaartha.com/business/one-person-dies-every-nine-minutes/556414/
#RabiesDeaths #GlobalHealth #OneDeathEveryNineMinutes #RabiesAwareness #WorldRabiesDay #StopRabies #PublicHealth #DogBiteAwareness #VaarthaLive #ZoonoticDisease #VaccinateToEliminate #HealthAlert #PreventRabies #EndRabies #GlobalCrisis
Abstract
Mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV; Orthopoxvirus monkeypox), is on the rise in West and Central Africa. Most outbreaks are short-lived, but MPXV has recently caused larger epidemics driven by sustained human-to-human transmission. It is widely accepted that mpox outbreaks originate in zoonotic events. African rodents, especially squirrels, are suspected to be involved in MPXV emergence, but no ...
"...
The researchers behind the Cell paper began by studying the new virus in ways that do not require growing live virus — like through computer analysis. But after establishing that the virus can probably infect human cells, the researchers performed experiments with the fully infectious virus. They did not conduct these experiments in a BSL-3 or BSL-4 laboratory ...
..."
#Virus #InfectiousDisease #InfectiousDiseases #PublicHealth #Zoonosis #ZoonoticDisease #Pandemic
A journal that should be read. Google Translate appears to do a good job.
http://en.cnki.com.cn/KNavi/JournalDetail?pcode=CJFD&pykm=ZSJB
#China #Zoonosis #ZoonoticDisease #zoonoticdiseases #InfectiousDisease #Invectiousdiseases
If you won't wear a mask for yourself or other people, maybe you'll wear one for your pets. When my roommate and I got COVID last year, her beloved Guinea pig died of it. Dogs and cats get COVID, too. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html #ZoonoticDisease #Covid #MaskUp
1-AUG-2024
Tiny flyers with large impact: #Blowflies carry bird flu virus
A new study from a wild bird colony in southern Japan reveals that blowflies are a potential means of #birdFlu transmission.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1053291
#science #AvianInfluenza #ZoonoticDisease #flu #PublicHealth
please share widely.
the canadian govt is considering developing METHANE OFFSETS for beef farming. please comment and tell them this is unacceptable and that we need to stop subsidizing beef and move away from animal agriculture altogether. you have until feb 6 to comment.
#vegan #animalrights #climatecrisis #climatechange #climatedisaster #zoonoticdisease #cdnpoli
Palm Oil Deforestation and Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes
Short version
A 2023 study published in Nature has found that cutting down rainforest to grow palm oil makes it easier for certain disease-carrying bugs like Aedes albopictus mosquitoes to thrive.
The study looks at how these changes in land use affect the local weather and environment, which in turn makes it easier for the mosquitoes to complete their life cycle.
Specifically, turning forests into palm oil plantations can increase the chances of these mosquitoes growing by about 11%, which drops to around 5% as the palm oil plants mature. This could lead to more frequent outbreaks of diseases carried by these mosquitoes.
Aedes albopictus is known to transmit pathogens and viruses, such as the Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, Chikungunya fever and Usutu virus. The study suggests careful policy-making and planning is urgently needed to assess how we use land, balancing the need for palm oil farming.
There are strong inherent risks to public health from palm oil agriculture and vector-borne diseases. #Boycottpalmoil
#Research study in @Nature finds #mosquitos carrying Dengue Fever are able to thrive in #palmoil plantations. #Humanhealth should be more important than #greed. Resist and fight back when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🤮🤒⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/12/30/research-palm-oil-deforestation-makes-conditions-better-for-disease-carrying-aedes-albopictus-mosquitoes/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterSaager, E. S., Iwamura, T., Jucker, T., & Murray, K. A. (2023). Deforestation for oil palm increases microclimate suitability for the development of the disease vector Aedes albopictus. Scientific Reports, 13(1), [9514]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35452-6
Abstract
A major trade-off of land-use change is the potential for increased risk of infectious diseases, a.o. through impacting disease vector life-cycles. Evaluating the public health implications of land-use conversions requires spatially detailed modelling linking land-use to vector ecology. Here, we estimate the impact of deforestation for oil palm cultivation on the number of life-cycle completions of Aedes albopictus via its impact on local microclimates. We apply a recently developed mechanistic phenology model to a fine-scaled (50-m resolution) microclimate dataset that includes daily temperature, rainfall and evaporation. Results of this combined model indicate that the conversion from lowland rainforest to plantations increases suitability for A. albopictus development by 10.8%, moderated to 4.7% with oil palm growth to maturity. Deforestation followed by typical plantation planting-maturation-clearance-replanting cycles is predicted to create pulses of high development suitability. Our results highlight the need to explore sustainable land-use scenarios that resolve conflicts between agricultural and human health objectives.
Introduction
Agricultural development has an extensive impact on natural and socioeconomic systems worldwide1,2. The globally rising demand in versatile tropical crops, such as oil palm, has led to a rapid increase in agricultural exploitation in developing countries3,4. Although agricultural development can bring important economic benefits, it has well known implications for biodiversity and carbon storage especially in areas where agricultural land directly replaces pristine tropical rainforest5. Currently, however, the measurable health risks of different land-use types remain poorly evaluated and human health impacts are therefore rarely integrated into land-use decision making.
Infectious disease transmission is an important dimension of human health that can be affected by agricultural land-use change. Patz et al.6 proposed that changing landscapes could become ‘unhealthy landscapes’ because of numerous examples of land-use change being linked to infectious disease risks (e.g., Lyme disease, Nipah virus). Since then, numerous studies have linked agricultural land-use change to increased infectious disease incidence7,8,9,10. In a recent meta-analysis, Shah et al.11 found that exposure to agriculture on average almost doubled the risk of being infected by any pathogen, with the highest effect sizes being observed for tropical tree crop monocultures including oil palm (odds ratio (OR) = 3.25) and rubber (OR = 2.27).
One mechanism that could help explain such associations is a change in microclimatic conditions following the change in land cover, which may favour the development of disease vectors12,13. Ectothermic arthropod vectors are highly sensitive to changes in environmental temperature, which govern their metabolic rates and development, and therefore their fitness and population growth rates14,15. In addition, many disease vectors respond to changes in humidity and/or rainfall due to their aquatic life-stages, which require the availability of adequate water bodies for development15,16. The precise effects of climate on population abundance are nevertheless highly vector-specific.
The changes in microclimate associated with deforestation for agricultural expansion offer considerable potential to impact disease vector development. Forest canopies typically buffer against extremes in local temperature and humidity through interception, transformation and storage of solar radiation, leaf transpiration and altered airflow17. Landscapes in transition to tropical tree-based agriculture, such as rubber or oil palm plantations, often encompass a strong gradient in land-use intensity with many differences in vegetation cover, canopy height and community complexity. Both on a relatively small spatial and temporal scale, vegetation in these landscapes can range from 50 + meter high intact or selectively logged tropical rainforest, to clear-cut open land, to 10–20 m full-grown plantation trees, all with varying microclimatic features. Recently, Jucker et al.18 performed high-resolution modelling of microclimate in a transitioning oil palm landscape and showed that deforested areas and oil palm plantations experienced substantially higher daily temperatures and lower relative humidity compared with rainforest areas. Older plantations experienced lower temperatures and higher relative humidity than younger plantations, although they remained warmer and drier than the rainforest areas. Predicting how these microclimate differences might in turn impact mosquito development and thereby, potentially, vector-borne disease (VBD) risks, is essential to be able to direct both large- (i.e. deforestation) and small-scale (i.e. cultivation design) land-use policy decision making.
Multiple field and experimental studies have demonstrated that land-use change can accelerate disease vector development through altering microclimates19,20,21,22. Mechanistic models of vector development could be an important tool to translate these observational findings into predictions across different settings, and, eventually, into land-use policies23. By explicitly incorporating environment-development relationships, they are also useful in evaluating the complex interplay of different environmental variables, such as temperature and humidity. Multiple studies have, for instance, already assessed the complex effects of global climate change on local disease vector development using mechanistic models and have predicted an acceleration of disease vector development resulting in expanding as well as shifting global distributions in the coming decades24,25,26,27,28. Mechanistic modelling studies that incorporate the effects of land-use change are scarcer and are typically limited by lack of adequately fine-scaled datasets that can capture the microclimatic variation attributable to vegetation cover differences29,30.
Here, we extended a recently developed spatially explicit physiological development model for the mosquito Aedes aegypti28 to predict the impact of fine-scaled, tree cover-related changes in microclimate on the number of life cycle completions of the related arboviral disease vector Aedes albopictus. Detailed land-use and microclimate data from Malaysia18 was used to capture the impacts of tropical forest conversion to oil palm plantation on mosquito development at appropriate spatio-temporal scales31. A comprehensive representation of the interactions between microclimates and vector development is provided by evaluating the separate and combined effects of temperature and humidity. We use our results to infer the trajectories of mosquito population growth according to realistic land-use succession scenarios within an oil palm-agricultural landscape. With this study, we aim to determine to what extent a forest-to-plantation transition could enhance mosquito development as a result of changes in local temperature and humidity linked to land-use change. Our results have important implications for evaluating vector-borne disease risks of agricultural expansion.
Conclusions
We predict that microclimate change by deforestation for oil palm, which can occur in a mere months, could increase disease vector development suitability to an extent comparable to decades of global warming. Our model predicts that plantation maturation to higher vegetation cover moderates A. albopictus development rates, although suitability remains increased in lowland plantations compared to original forest areas. These results stress the importance of tropical forest protection and give directions for alternative oil palm plantation systems that minimize public health risks12,28.
Saager, E. S., Iwamura, T., Jucker, T., & Murray, K. A. (2023). Deforestation for oil palm increases microclimate suitability for the development of the disease vector Aedes albopictus. Scientific Reports, 13(1), [9514]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35452-6
ENDS
Read more about animals on the edge of extinction due to the threat of the palm oil industry
Finance giants fuel $8.9 trillion deforestation economy
Forest 500 report shows 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries. Support EUDR!
Saolas are rare and considered Southeast Asia’s ‘unicorns’, this Critically Endangered antelope is facing imminent extinction due to hunting and deforestation
Songbirds Socialise Mid-Flight During Migration
Songbirds communicate with different species during nocturnal flights sharing vital info about navigation and stopover habitats. Save their fascinating world!
Pangolins get their name from the Malay ‘pengguling’ meaning rolling up. These special critically endangered animals deserve a break from savage poaching
Tucuxi, small freshwater dolphins of Peru Ecuador Colombia and Brazil are Endangered due to fishing nets, deforestation, mercury poisoning from gold mining.
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Take Action in Five Ways
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Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #greed #health #humanHealth #humanhealth #mosquitos #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #planetaryHealth #research #zoonosis #zoonoticDisease
This is scary. I went to visit my parents in PEI last year and there were hardly any birds. Bird flu wiped out gulls, ravens, crows, and more. I was on the beach at low tide and there were no gulls eating clams. A beach at low tide with no gulls is eerie. Now the flu is killing raccoons. It could jump to other mammals, including us. Wear your mask. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/canada-reports-first-h5n5-avian-flu-mammal-us-reports-more-h5n1-animals #BirdFlu #Birds #Raccoons #ZoonoticDisease #MaskUp
The problem is these unwelfare conditions may be ended in some serious conditions such as #zoonoticdisease transmission and would lead to a pandemic. Various diseases through various ways from various wildlife species are too many to explain, including neglected tropical diseases, such as #snakebite envenomation.
Did you know that you need no #eggs at all for baking #cakes? No, not even pancakes. Actually, #pancakes are especially easy without eggs.
Nice to see the Guardian inform about why and how we don't need eggs, as yet another #zoonoticdisease breaks out. #Vegan options are lovely and creative
What is causing the latest outbreak of Ebola in Uganda?
In light of the most recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda (over the past month), many people are experiencing a sense of déjà vu. The rapacious destruction of rainforests for palm oil, soy, meat and dairy by multinational corporations is deeply linked to the spread of infectious zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola. These diseases are becoming more and more commonplace with the destruction of the environment and growth of animal agriculture. This has enormous implications for human #health, food security, animal conservation and planetary health. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
What caused the #Ebola outbreak in #Uganda 🇺🇬? Zoonotic spillover occurs when humans get too close/eat #wild animals. #Pandemics 🤮💊🤒 are strongly linked to #palmoil 🌴🩸⛔️ #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/10/16/what-is-causing-the-latest-outbreak-of-ebola-in-uganda/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterThe answers to preventing future zoonotic diseases are staring us right in the face: we should stop eating animals and consuming animal products and we should stop destroying rainforests for palm oil, soy and other crops!
What is causing the latest #Ebola outbreak in #Uganda? Zoonotic spillover occurs when humans get too close/eat #wild animals. #Pandemics are strongly linked to #palmoil #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
#Ebola #birdflu #Zika virus were all caused by humans getting too close to wild animals, #palmoil #deforestation and illegal #hunting. Solution: Be #vegan for the animals and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
Many research papers and books have been written about the connection between the relentless capitalist growth imperative of multinational corporations, deforestation to make way for agriculture and the spread of Zoonotic diseases from wild animals to humans. Here is a collection of research papers and quotes from experts about the issue.
Quick reference
What is zoonotic disease spill-over?
How does a zoonotic disease spread?
Is palm oil deforestation linked to zoonotic disease spread/pandemics?
Is Ebola linked to illegal land-grabbing for industrial palm oil in Africa?
What is the best way to stop zoonotic diseases?
1. Prevention is the best cure
2. The ‘wild’ must be kept ‘wild’ and we must stop consuming animals.
3. Boycott meat, dairy and palm oil
Statistics on zoonotic diseases
What is zoonotic disease spill-over?
Zoonotic spillover requires close contact between a human and an animal or its organic material. This occurs when humans destroy rainforest ecosystems for industrial agriculture, rapid urbanisation, mining or other land conversion. Illegal wildlife hunting, bushmeat trade and the illegal pet trade expose humans to new pathogens from these wild animals. This pathogen transfer is the zoonotic spill-over from wild animal hosts to human hosts.
Bushmeat is a suspected vector for HIV and Ebola. Primates, rodents, pangolins, antelope, and vipers have all been shipped along air routes. One study found that 100% of seized bushmeat samples intercepted at borders had bacteria that was unsafe for human consumption. (C4ADS, 2020).
C4ADSUnlike bushmeat or other products, live animals can host a zoonotic disease indefinitely. Live birds, orangutans, marmosets and salamanders are all known hosts of zoonotic diseases when they are trafficked in the illegal pet trade.
Animal agriculture is also involved in the spread of Zoonotic diseases. Pigs, chickens, cows and other fowl are known hosts for ASF, avian flu, and E. coli. This can spread to humans when they consume meat and dairy products.
How does a zoonotic disease spread?
Wellcome Collection, Zoonotic Disease ExplainedSpillover of possible pandemic pathogens occurs from livestock operations; wildlife hunting and trade; land use change—and the destruction of tropical forests in particular; expansion of agricultural lands, especially near human settlements; and rapid, unplanned urbanisation. Climate change is also shrinking habitats and pushing animals on land and sea to move to new places, creating opportunities for pathogens to enter new hosts.
Dr Aaron Bernstein, director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants — and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses. We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”
David Quammen, author of “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic,” in the New York Times.
1. Prevention is the best cure
Is palm oil deforestation linked to zoonotic disease spread/pandemics?
Taking into account the human population growth, we find that the increases in outbreaks of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases from 1990 to 2016 are linked with deforestation, mostly in tropical countries, and with reforestation, mostly in temperate countries. We also find that outbreaks of vector-borne diseases are associated with the increase in areas of palm oil plantations.
Morand, S., & Lajaunie, C. (2021). Outbreaks of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases are associated with changes in forest cover and oil palm expansion at global scale. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8. doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.661063
Is Ebola linked to land-grabbing for industrial palm oil in Africa?
This discussion paper’s findings relate to an outbreak of Ebola in Liberia and the interaction between palm oil companies, deforestation and a past ebola epidemic in this location:
Read more“The palm oil multinationals, exploiting the health crisis, stepped up deforestation to increase output. The effect on deforestation is more severe in areas inhabited by politically unrepresented ethnic groups, characterised by a reduction in tree coverage by 6.5%. We also document an increase of more than 125% in the likelihood of fire events within concessions during the epidemic.
“This suggests that not only did the palm oil companies foster deforestation, but further that they used forest fires to do so. This is particularly harmful to the environment, and the smoke and the haze may have severe health consequences, apart from being a source of carbon dioxide. This deforestation was accompanied by a 150% increase in the amount of land dedicated to cultivation.
“This exploitative behaviour was highly profitable for palm oil companies, with a 1428% increase in the value of Liberian palm oil’s exports compared with the pre-Ebola period. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for local people or the local environment.”
Sonno, Tomasso & Zufacchi, Davide (2022) Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies Discussion Paper. The Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics.
https://twitter.com/CEP_LSE/status/1502238109677015044?s=20&t=CwBhOE-SLGkXtNxC9nXw5w
What is the best way to stop zoonotic diseases?
1. Prevention is the best cure
“If COVID-19 taught us anything, it is that testing, treatments, and vaccines can prevent deaths, but they do not stop the spread of viruses across the globe and may never prevent the emergence of new pathogens. As we look to the future, we absolutely cannot rely on post-spillover strategies alone to protect us”
Dr Aaron Bernstein, director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
2. The ‘wild’ must be kept ‘wild’ and we must stop consuming animals
Linkages between environmental issues and zoonotic diseases: with reference to COVID-19 pandemic, Springer 2020.“The ‘wild’ must be kept ‘wild.’ It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. Where the legal wildlife trade chain exists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there is the urgent need to
tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide”.Statement by Inger Andersen, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (2020) Statement: Preventing the next pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission, UNEP.
3. Boycott meat, dairy and palm oil
The clearing of rainforests and other ecosystems for animal agriculture and cutting into forests for growing monocultures like palm oil and soy is responsible for zoonotic spillover. If we all decided to boycott meat, dairy and palm oil tomorrow, we would prevent the majority of this zoonotic spillover.
If we all woke up vegan in 2050, we would require less cropland than we did in the year 2000. This could allow us to “reforest” an area around the size of the entire Amazon rainforest – somehow fitting considering 70-80% of deforestation in the Amazon is due to the livestock industry.
Kehoe, Laura (2016) Can we feed the world and stop deforestation? Depends what’s for dinner, Humboldt University Berlin, The Conversation.
Statistics on zoonotic diseases
Read more
C4ADS (2020) Animal Smuggling in Air Transport and Preventing Zoonotic Spillover https://c4ads.org/issue-briefs/routes-zoonotic-spillover/
David Quammen, author of “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic,” in the New York Times.
Harvard Chan C-CHANGE/Harvard Global Health Initiative (2021) Protecting forests and changing agricultural practices are essential, cost-effective actions to prevent pandemics https://youtu.be/BIiduif1C4A
Kehoe, Laura (2016) Can we feed the world and stop deforestation? Depends what’s for dinner, Humboldt University Berlin, The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/can-we-feed-the-world-and-stop-deforestation-depends-whats-for-dinner-58091.
MacDonald, A. J., & Mordecai, E. A. (2019). Amazon deforestation drives malaria transmission, and malaria burden reduces forest clearing: A retrospective study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 3. doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(19)30156-1
Morand, S., & Lajaunie, C. (2021). Outbreaks of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases are associated with changes in forest cover and oil palm expansion at global scale. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8. doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.661063
Sonno, Tomasso & Zufacchi, Davide (2022) Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies Discussion Paper. The Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics.
Statement by Inger Andersen, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (2020) Statement: Preventing the next pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission, UNEP.
Wellcome Collection (2020) Zoonotic Disease Explained
Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife
Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels
The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction
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Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-FiDid you enjoy visiting this website?
Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#animalExtinction #animalRights #animals #birdflu #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #dairyFoods #deforestation #Ebola #health #humanHealth #hunting #illegalPetTrade #meat #meatAgriculture #meatDeforestation_ #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pandemic #pandemics #planetaryHealth #poaching #Uganda #vegan #wild #Zika #zoonosis #zoonoticDisease
RT @SciCommsUWE: 🆕 Blog post
'Driving policy around the COVID-19 pandemic'
Read about the policy briefs recently published by SCU researchers exploring the impact of #COVID19 on people and the planet.
📌 https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/science-communication/driving-policy-around-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Deforestation Allows for Deadly Viruses to Jump Species
Many pandemics originate from wildlife that jumps from animal to human. These leaps often happen at the edges of the world’s tropical forests, where #deforestation is increasingly bringing people into contact with animals’ natural habitats. Yellow fever, #malaria, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, #Ebola – all of these pathogens have spilled over from one species to another at the margins of forests. This has many scientists concerned. The next pandemic is likely to originate from either the rainforest, meat or dairy agriculture where humans have most contact with animals.
Experts warn that if #deforestation continues, #zoonotic #diseases jumping from wild #animals to humans will become a regular occurrence. 🦠🦟Yet another reason to #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 and be #vegan 🍉🥦#Boycott4Wildlife #ClimateActionNow @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/04/17/how-deforestation-helps-deadly-viruses-jump-from-animals-to-humans/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAs doctors and biologists specializing in infectious diseases, we have studied these and other zoonoses as they spread in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We found that deforestation has been a common theme.
More than half of the world’s tropical deforestation is driven by four commodities: beef, soy, palm oil and wood products. They replace mature, biodiverse tropical forests with monocrop fields and pastures. As the forest is degraded piecemeal, animals still living in isolated fragments of natural vegetation struggle to exist. When human settlements encroach on these forests, human-wildlife contact can increase, and new opportunistic animals may also migrate in.
Elephant in the Room by Jo FrederiksThe resulting disease spread shows the interconnectedness of natural habitats, the animals that dwell within it, and humans.
Yellow fever: Monkeys, humans and hungry mosquitoes
Yellow fever, a viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes, famously halted progress on the Panama Canal in the 1900s and shaped the history of Atlantic coast cities from Philadelphia to Rio de Janeiro. Although a yellow fever vaccine has been available since the 1930s, the disease continues to afflict 200,000 people a year, a third of whom die, mostly in West Africa.
The virus that causes it lives in primates and is spread by mosquitoes that tend to dwell high in the canopy where these primates live.
In the early 1990s, a yellow fever outbreak was reported for the first time in the Kerio Valley in Kenya, where deforestation had fragmented the forest. Between 2016 and 2018, South America saw its largest number of yellow fever cases in decades, resulting in around 2,000 cases, and hundreds of deaths. The impact was severe in the extremely vulnerable Atlantic forest of Brazil – a biodiversity hotspot that has shrunk to 7% of its original forest cover.
Veterinarians inspect monkeys found dead in Brazil, where primates are suspected of spreading yellow fever. Carl de Souza/AFP via Getty ImagesShrinking habitat has been shown to concentrate howler monkeys – one of the main South American yellow fever hosts. A study on primate density in Kenya further demonstrated that forest fragmentation led a greater density of primates, which in turn led to pathogens becoming more prevalent.
Deforestation resulted in patches of forest that both concentrated the primate hosts and favored the mosquitoes that could transmit the virus to humans.
Malaria: Humans can also infect wildlife
Just as wildlife pathogens can jump to humans, humans can cross-infect wildlife.
Falciparum malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people yearly, especially in Africa. But in the Atlantic tropical forest of Brazil, we have also found a surprisingly high rate of Plasmodium falciparum (the malaria parasite responsible for severe malaria) circulating in the absence of humans. That raises the possibility that this parasite may be infecting new world monkeys. Elsewhere in the Amazon, monkey species have become naturally infected. In both cases, deforestation could have facilitated cross-infection.
We and other scientists have extensively documented the associations between deforestation and malaria in the Amazon, showing how the malaria-carrying mosquitoes and human malaria cases are strongly linked to deforested habitat.
Children in Ethiopia read under mosquito netting, used to protect people from mosquitoes that transmit malaria. Louise Gubb/Corbis via Getty ImagesAnother type of malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi, known to circulate among monkeys, became a concern to human health over a decade ago in Southeast Asia. Several studies have shown that areas sustaining higher rates of forest loss also had higher rates of human infections, and that the mosquito vectors and monkey hosts spanned a wide range of habitats including disturbed forest.
Venezuelan equine encephalitis: Rodents move in
Venezuelan equine encephalitis is another mosquito-borne virus that is estimated to cause tens to hundreds of thousands of humans to develop febrile illnesses every year. Severe infections can lead to encephalitis and even death.
In the Darien province of Panama, we found that two rodent species had particularly high rates of infection with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, leading us to suspect that these species may be the wildlife hosts.
One of the species, Tome’s spiny rat, has also been implicated in other studies. The other, the short-tailed cane mouse, is also involved in the transmission of zoonotic diseases such as hantavirus and possibly Madariaga virus, an emergent encephalitis virus.
People have a cognitive dissonance when it comes to eating animals, given the health risks of zoonosis and pandemics
Elephant in the Room by Jo FrederiksWhile Tome’s spiny rat is widely found in tropical forests in the Americas, it readily occupies regrowth and forest fragments. The short-tailed cane mouse prefers habitat on the edge of forests and abutting cattle pastures.
As deforestation in this region progresses, these two rodents can occupy forest fragments, cattle pastures and the regrowth that arises when fields lie fallow. Mosquitoes also occupy these areas and can bring the virus to humans and livestock.
Ebola: Disease at the forest’s edge
Vector-borne diseases are not the only zoonoses sensitive to deforestation. Ebola was first described in 1976, but outbreaks have become more common. The 2014-2016 outbreak killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa and drew attention to diseases that can spread from wildlife to humans.
The natural transmission cycle of the Ebola virus remains elusive. Bats have been implicated, with possible additional ground-dwelling animals maintaining “silent” transmission between human outbreaks.
Bats, sometimes eaten as food, have been suspected of spreading Ebola. Tyler Hicks/Getty ImagesWhile the exact nature of transmission is not yet known, several studies have shown that deforestation and forest fragmentation were associated with outbreaks between 2004 and 2014. In addition to possibly concentrating Ebola wildlife hosts, fragmentation may serve as a corridor for pathogen-carrying animals to spread the virus over large areas, and it may increase human contact with these animals along the forest edge.
What about the coronavirus?
While the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak hasn’t been proven, a genetically similar virus has been detected in intermediate horseshoe bats and Sunda pangolins.
The range of the Sunda pangolin – which is critically endangered – overlaps with the intermediate horseshoe bat in the forests of Southeast Asia, where it lives in mature tree hollows. As forest habitat shrinks, could pangolins also experience increased density and susceptibility to pathogens?
In fact, in small urban forest fragments in Malaysia, the Sunda pangolin was detected even though overall mammal diversity was much lower than a comparison tract of contiguous forest. This shows that this animal is able to persist in fragmented forests where it could increase contact with humans or other animals that can harbor potentially zoonotic viruses, such as bats. The Sunda pangolin is poached for its meat, skin and scales and imported illegally from Malaysia and Vietnam into China. A wet market in Wuhan that sells such animals has been suspected as a source of the current pandemic.
Preventing zoonotic spillover
There is still a lot that we don’t know about how viruses jump from wildlife to humans and what might drive that contact.
Forest fragments and their associated landscapes encompassing forest edge, agricultural fields and pastures have been a repeated theme in tropical zoonoses. While many species disappear as forests are cleared, others have been able to adapt. Those that adapt may become more concentrated, increasing the rate of infections.
Given the evidence, it is clear humans need to balance the production of food, forest commodities and other goods with the protection of tropical forests. Conservation of wildlife may keep their pathogens in check, preventing zoonotic spillover, and ultimately benefiting humans, too.
Amy Y. Vittor, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Florida; Gabriel Zorello Laporta, Professor of biology and infectious diseases, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, and Maria Anice Mureb Sallum, Professor of Epidemiology, Universidade de São Paulo
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