Human Health
About Health, Wildlife & the Environment
Human health is increasingly linked to the health of our natural environment, and the degradation of the environment is risking human lives all over the world - especially in developing countries.
For instance, as human population encroach into previously wild forests and habitats, the increased contact with wild animals - whether due to hunting and the illegal wildlife trade or other causes - can have adverse impacts on human health. Zoonotic diseases jump from animals to people, while increased rates of diseases occur as human activities damage natural ecological processes through deforestation, climate change, and disruption of ecological services provided by healthy forests and rivers.(1)
Zoonosis is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from both wild and domestic animals to humans via agents such as parasites,fungi, bacteria, and viruses. There are over 200 known zoonoses. Some common examples of zoonoses include;
"Diseases transmitted through wildlife may result in outbreaks that can undermine social, political and economic progress, while also threatening native wildlife and ecosystems."
- Rabies
- Avian influenza (bird flu)
- Anthrax
- Dengue fever.
- Ebola
- HIV/AIDS.
The illegal hunting and trade of endangered species is a known cause of human disease. A recent report by the New York Times finds that a new strain of H.I.V. originated in gorillas and that “The most likely explanation for the new virus’s emergence is gorilla-to-human transmission, probably a result of humans slaughtering apes or handling or eating their meat.”
Damage to the planet and ecosystems due to deforestation, dams, and climate change can increase the range and severity of vector-borne diseases - diseases transferred from one person to another via insects or other vectors - such as malaria and dengue fever. In addition, the building of dams and the depletion of marine life and certain plant life, such as mangroves, often cause damage to the natural water filtration system, causing an increase in water-born diseases. According to GAO, nearly 75 percent of emerging diseases reach humans through animals.
Emerging diseases tied to wildlife trade and deforestation harm not only our health but also our economies, through damage to livestock and captive animals. (4)
The rash of emerging and reemerging livestock disease outbreaks around the world since the mid-1990’s (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, swine fever, SARS, and others) has cost the world’s economies $80 billion.(5) Diseases that successfully jump from an animal to human can last for millennia or more. Therefore, it is vital to stop the transfer of diseases from animals to humans not only for the health of the current generation, but for all future generations.
1 World Health Organization, Zoonoses and veterinary public health (VPH) fact sheet, 2009
2 Lawrence K. Altman, “New Strain of H.I.V. is Discovered,” The New York Times, August 4, 2009 3 William B. Karesh et al., “Implications of Wildlife Trade on the Movement of Avian Infl uenza and other Infectious Diseases, “ Journal of Wildlife Diseases, vol. 43, no.
3 (2007), pp. 55-59
4 U.S. General Accounting Office, “West Nile Virus Outbreak, Lessons for Public Health Preparedness,” September 2000, GAO/HEHS-00-180, p. 68
5 Newcomb J. Biology and Borders: SARS and the new economics of bio-security, [cited 2004 February 2007]. Available from http://www.bio-era.net
