'Exploitation of wildlife, through hunting, capture, and the wildlife trade, typically involves very close contact that facilitates disease transmission,' said researcher Christine Johnson.
Animal domestication and human exploitation of wildlife—via hunting, trade, habitat degradation and urbanization—is increasing the risk of animal viruses being transmitted to humans, a team of scientists has said., the processes leading to declines in wildlife populations are also facilitating the transmission of animal viruses to humans. This process is known as"virus spillover"—as occurred with the novel coronavirus that has recently swept across the globe.
The team then examined trends in the abundance of these species, their risk of extinction and the factors that may be driving population declines among these animals, where applicable. "Spillover risk scales up with increasing global abundance of species," Johnson said."Disease transmission has been especially common from domesticated species and wildlife that have adapted to the way we've changed the landscape."
Finally, the findings show that human-driven activities that have led to losses in wildlife habitats have increased opportunities for animal-human interactions, leading to a higher risk of virus spillover. "Humans have drastically changed the planet and nearly a third of all vertebrate species are threatened or endangered," Johnson said."Exploitation of wildlife, through hunting, capture, and the wildlife trade, typically involves very close contact that facilitates disease transmission.
"We hope we can shift thinking from pandemic response to pandemic prevention. Disease emergence that occurs anywhere can affect us all and we need to all understand the impact we are having on the natural world to find more sustainable ways to co-exist," Johnson said.
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