There are two major reasons behind the rise in disease transmission from animals to humans: humans encroaching on forested lands and rise in Earth’s temperature due to global warming. A new field called ‘conservation medicine’ looks into ‘how ecosystem disturbance and changing interactions between wildlife and humans can lead to the spread of new pathogens.’
One example of such interaction and the subsequent disease transmission is the case of the ongoing deforestation of African rainforests that have brought humans closer to infected bats.
According to Wildlife Trust’s veterinary epidemiologist and public health expert, Jonathan Epstein, “When you disrupt the balance, you are precipitating the spillover of pathogens from wildlife to livestock or humans.”
Advocated by many wildlife biologists and public health experts, conservation medicine ‘promotes interdisciplinary collaborations to expose the links between ecosystems, the health of wildlife, and humans that lead to the emergence of new pathogens.’
Conservation medicine has had positive explorations into the link between climate change, spread of disease, and disease transmission from animals to humans. ‘They’ve found that spasms of cholera correlate with changing sea surface temperatures and that diarrhea outbreaks arrive as the mercury climbs. They’ve discovered associations between seasonal weather patterns and malaria that are so strong that outbreaks can be predicted with the weather forecast. The so-called meningitis belt in West Africa has expanded in recent years, thanks to land-use and climate changes.’
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