Biodiversity loss reduces the ability of natural habitats to provide ecosystem services, such as food supply and water purification.
Biodiversity loss reduces the ability of natural habitats to provide ecosystem services, such as food supply and water purification. Results of several studies indicate that decline in biodiversity influences the emergence of infectious diseases to humans, other animals and plants, and frequently increases disease transmission. The World Health Organization states zoonoses as “any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans”.
Zoonoses can be of different nature such as bacterial, viral, or parasitic. Re-emergence of zoonotic diseases is correlated to the health of ecosystems and the intensification of human activities, enabling pathogens in wildlife reservoirs to expand to livestock and to humans, putting at risk human well-being and ecosystems. To improve international surveillance requires joinining expertise and efforts and the involvement of organizations such as OIE, FAO and WHO. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) can contribute to a better integration of scientific knowledge in the wildlife trade surveillance, working also towards human behavior change and improving regulatory mechanisms to decrease the risk of future outbreaks.
For more information:
https://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/zoonoses/en/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989418302312
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09575