Changing legislative thinking in China to better protect wild animals and human health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guirong Fang ◽  
Hong Liu ◽  
Ka Wu ◽  
Tongqing Wei ◽  
Qing Wang
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Xiao ◽  
Chris Newman ◽  
Christina D. Buesching ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Zhao-Min Zhou

AbstractHere we document 47,381 individuals from 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan’s markets. We note that no pangolins (or bats) were traded, supporting reformed opinion that pangolins were not likely the spillover host at the source of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While we caution against the misattribution of COVID-19’s origins, the wild animals on sale in Wuhan suffered poor welfare and hygiene conditions and we detail a range of other zoonotic infections they can potentially vector. Nevertheless, in a precautionary response to COVID-19, China’s Ministries temporarily banned all wildlife trade on 26th Jan 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, and permanently banned eating and trading terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals for food on 24th Feb 2020. These interventions, intended to protect human health, redress previous trading and enforcement inconsistencies, and will have collateral benefits for global biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.


Author(s):  
Chris Kenyon

The probability of zoonoses, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), emerging is strongly related to remediable factors such as habitat encroachment and trade in wild animals. Tackling these underlying determinants is important to prevent future pandemics from the approximately 700,000 viruses with the potential to cause zoonoses. Reversing habitat destruction is also vital to halt the accelerating rate of extinction of a wide array of life forms - with all the adverse consequences these extinctions will have for human health. These insights depend on viewing health and disease from within an ecological theoretical framework. We therefore argue that preventing future zoonotic outbreaks as well as dealing with a range of contemporary health issues would be facilitated by grounding our health sciences in more a more explicitly ecological conceptual framework.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Cvetkovic ◽  
Vlado Teodorovic ◽  
Gianluca Marucci ◽  
Dragan Vasilev ◽  
Sasa Vasilev ◽  
...  

AbstractIn Europe, Serbia ranks among countries with a high prevalence of Trichinella infection in pigs, which continues to be a serious human health problem. While in some Balkan countries, more than one Trichinella species/genotype has been described in both the sylvatic and domestic cycles, these data are lacking for Serbia. To date, only a few Serbian isolates of Trichinella have been genetically specified, and all were classified as T. spiralis. Although transmission of Trichinella from domestic pigs to wildlife could be assumed, neither the infection status nor the species of Trichinella circulating among wildlife in Serbia has been investigated. This study shows the presence of two Trichinella species, T. spiralis and T. britovi, in wild animals originating from five districts in Serbia, where Trichinella infections in domestic pigs and humans have been recorded. Trichinella spiralis was detected in jackals (n = 3), red foxes (n = 2) and a wild cat (n = 1). We also established that wolves (n = 4) and red foxes (n = 2) serve as sylvatic reservoirs for T. britovi. This is the first report on the presence of T. britovi in Serbia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1831) ◽  
pp. 20200230
Author(s):  
H. J. Williams ◽  
J. Ryan Shipley ◽  
C. Rutz ◽  
M. Wikelski ◽  
M. Wilkes ◽  
...  

Thus far, ecophysiology research has predominantly been conducted within controlled laboratory-based environments, owing to a mismatch between the recording technologies available for physiological monitoring in wild animals and the suite of behaviours and environments they need to withstand, without unduly affecting subjects. While it is possible to record some physiological variables for free-living animals using animal-attached logging devices, including inertial-measurement, heart-rate and temperature loggers, the field is still in its infancy. In this opinion piece, we review the most important future research directions for advancing the field of ‘physiologging’ in wild animals, including the technological development that we anticipate will be required, and the fiscal and ethical challenges that must be overcome. Non-invasive, multi-sensor miniature devices are ubiquitous in the world of human health and fitness monitoring, creating invaluable opportunities for animal and human physiologging to drive synergistic advances. We argue that by capitalizing on the research efforts and advancements made in the development of human wearables, it will be possible to design the non-invasive loggers needed by ecophysiologists to collect accurate physiological data from free-ranging animals ethically and with an absolute minimum of impact. In turn, findings have the capacity to foster transformative advances in human health monitoring. Thus, we invite biomedical engineers and researchers to collaborate with the animal-tagging community to drive forward the advancements necessary to realize the full potential of both fields. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Measuring physiology in free-living animals (Part II)’.


2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1831) ◽  
pp. 20200228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Macdonald ◽  
Lucy A. Hawkes ◽  
Damion K. Corrigan

The goal of achieving enhanced diagnosis and continuous monitoring of human health has led to a vibrant, dynamic and well-funded field of research in medical sensing and biosensor technologies. The field has many sub-disciplines which focus on different aspects of sensor science; engaging engineers, chemists, biochemists and clinicians, often in interdisciplinary teams. The trends which dominate include the efforts to develop effective point of care tests and implantable/wearable technologies for early diagnosis and continuous monitoring. This review will outline the current state of the art in a number of relevant fields, including device engineering, chemistry, nanoscience and biomolecular detection, and suggest how these advances might be employed to develop effective systems for measuring physiology, detecting infection and monitoring biomarker status in wild animals. Special consideration is also given to the emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance and in the light of the current SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, zoonotic infections. Both of these areas involve significant crossover between animal and human health and are therefore well placed to seed technological developments with applicability to both human and animal health and, more generally, the reviewed technologies have significant potential to find use in the measurement of physiology in wild animals. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Measuring physiology in free-living animals (Part II)’.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
M. Kanta ◽  
K. Beňová

Abstract The contamination of the environment, soil and meat of wild animals with radionuclides can negatively affect human health. The aim of our study was to analyse the risk arising from post-Chernobyl contamination of the meat of wild boars (Sus scrofa) originating from the district Levice, southern Slovakia, with the radioactive artificial element 137Cs. The level of natural radionuclide 40K was also determined. We examined altogether 45 samples obtained from 9 wild boars hunted in this area during the period of 2013—2015. From each animal we collected and analysed samples from the thigh, stomach contents, stomach muscles and skin. We also examined samples of soil from the locations where these animals were shot. The activity values of radioactive caesium 137Cs determined in this study were very low and therefore the consumption of wild boar meat originating from this location presents no risk to human health.


Author(s):  
Caroline K Glidden ◽  
Nicole Nova ◽  
Morgan P Kain ◽  
Katherine M Lagerstrom ◽  
Eloise B Skinner ◽  
...  

Human-mediated changes to natural ecosystems have consequences for both ecosystem and human health. Historically, efforts to preserve or restore ‘biodiversity’ can seem to be in opposition to human interests. However, the integration of biodiversity conservation and public health has gained significant traction in recent years, and new efforts to identify solutions that benefit both environmental and human health are ongoing. At the forefront of these efforts is an attempt to clarify ways in which biodiversity conservation can help reduce the risk of zoonotic spillover of pathogens from wild animals, sparking epidemics and pandemics in humans and livestock. However, our understanding of the mechanisms by which biodiversity change influences the spillover process is incomplete, limiting the application of integrated strategies aimed at achieving positive outcomes for both conservation and disease management. Here, we review the literature, considering a broad scope of biodiversity dimensions, to identify cases where zoonotic pathogen spillover is mechanistically linked to changes in biodiversity. By reframing the discussion around biodiversity and disease using mechanistic evidence—while encompassing multiple aspects of biodiversity including functional diversity, landscape diversity, phenological diversity, and interaction diversity—we work toward general principles that can guide future research and more effectively integrate the related goals of biodiversity conservation and spillover prevention. We conclude by summarizing how these principles could be used to integrate the goal of spillover prevention into ongoing biodiversity conservation initiatives.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 8547-8559
Author(s):  
Hongjing Zhao ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Mengyao Mu ◽  
Menghao Guo ◽  
Hongxian Yu ◽  
...  

Antibiotics are used worldwide to treat diseases in humans and other animals; most of them and their secondary metabolites are discharged into the aquatic environment, posing a serious threat to human health.


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