Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity’s destruction of nature, according to leaders at the UN, WHO and WWF International, and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades.
The pandemic which has locked down the planet’s human population is rooted in the trade and consumption of wild animals. But the UN organisation which regulates this trade, CITES, is incapable of preventing the health crisis, says its former head, John Scanlon.
Millions of live animals enter the U.S. each year without disease screening—leaving us vulnerable to another outbreak, a former wildlife inspector says...Twenty thousand live bullfrogs from China that will be cooked and eaten as frog legs. Forty green monkeys from St.
Links between ecological integrity, emerging infectious diseases and other aspects of human health - an overview of the literature
The devastating emergence of the virus causing COVID-19 has led to increased interest in the factors that result in pandemics and other disease outbreaks. There is an extensive body of literature on emerging infectious diseases that originate from wild animals, much of it built up since the SARS epidemic of 2002-2004 raised global awareness of the topic. The wildlife trade has been identified as one key risk factor and has rightly drawn a great deal of attention. This study reviews information relating to another commonly postulated risk factor - damage to the integrity of ecosystems.