One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress?

Abstract

Infectious diseases affect people, domestic animals and wildlife alike, with many pathogens being able to infect multiple species. Fifty years ago, following the wide-scale manufacture and use of antibiotics and vaccines, it seemed that the battle against infections was being won for the human population. Since then, however, and in addition to increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens, there has been an increase in the emergence of, mostly viral, zoonotic diseases from wildlife, sometimes causing fatal outbreaks of epidemic proportions. Concurrently, infectious disease has been identified as an increasing threat to wildlife conservation. A synthesis published in 2000 showed common anthropogenic drivers of disease threats to biodiversity and human health, including encroachment and destruction of wildlife habitat and the human-assisted spread of pathogens. Almost two decades later, the situation has not changed and, despite improved knowledge of the underlying causes, little has been done at the policy level to address these threats. For the sake of public health and wellbeing, human-kind needs to work better to conserve nature and preserve the ecosystem services, including disease regulation, that biodiversity provides while also understanding and mitigating activities which lead to disease emergence. We consider that holistic, One Health approaches to the management and mitigation of the risks of emerging infectious diseases have the greatest chance of success.This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’.

The amphibian‐killing fungus in a biodiversity hotspot: identifying and validating high‐risk areas and refugia

“…, Cunningham et al. ). Furthermore, given the current scenario of rapid environmental change driven by anthropogenic activity, there is growing interest in understanding the role of global change in the emergence and spread of infectious diseases (Jones et al.…”

An Ecological Framework for Modeling the Geography of Disease Transmission

“…The recent rise of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) (see Glossary) [1] has increased the burden of infectious diseases and negatively impacted the global economy [2][3][4][5]. Approximately 60% of emerging human diseases are caused by pathogenic parasites of animal origin (zoonoses), particularly wildlife [6].…”

Probiotics as a tool for disease mitigation in wildlife: insights from food production and medicine

“…Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) threaten the biodiversity of wildlife in nature . These diseases are defined as increasing in geographic range, host range, or prevalence and occur when invasive pathogens encounter naive hosts or when environmental changes favor a native pathogen.…”

“…These diseases are defined as increasing in geographic range, host range, or prevalence and occur when invasive pathogens encounter naive hosts or when environmental changes favor a native pathogen. EID events affecting wildlife appear to be increasing, and this may be related to many factors, including human‐mediated transport of pathogens, increased host stress due to habitat modification, and spillover from invasive species . Methods to prevent and mitigate EIDs are urgently needed and may include policy measures to limit spread of pathogens, habitat modification, selective breeding, and improved efficacy of vaccinations and probiotics.…”