Wildlife import linked to higher risk of animal-human disease outbreaks

Wildlife imports linked to increased risk of zoonotic disease outbreaks

The 21st-century epidemics of animal-human diseases, or zoonotic pathogens, such as MERS, SARS, and Covid-19, have demonstrated how pathogen spillover from animal to human can pose a global health threat.

Wildlife import linked to higher risk of animal-human disease outbreaks

In recent research published in the journal One Health, "Exploring the Impacts of Wildlife Trade on Zoonotic Spillover and Disease Outbreaks: A Multiple-perspective Study," researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) have discovered that wildlife imports strongly influence the likelihood of zoonotic emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks. This marks the first global measurement of how wildlife trade is linked to outbreaks of animal-borne diseases, across countries and over time.