ZOONOSES: BLURRED LINES OF EMERGENT DISEASE AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH
Ecosystem integrity underlines human health and development
Ecosystem integrity can help regulate diseases by supporting a diversity of species so that it is more difficult for one pathogen to spread rapidly or dominate. As the human population grows, ecosystems change. Forests are exploited for logging, landscapes are clear-cut for agriculture and mining interests, and the traditional buffer zones – once separating humans from animals or from the pathogens that they harbour – are notably reduced or lost. Because of historic underinvestment in the health sector of developing nations, and rapid development often at the cost of natural capital, disease emergence is likely to continue; hence, the importance of public health within the development and conservation continuum.36
Zoonotic diseases are particularly complex disorders that concern the three, often siloed, sectors of environment, agriculture, and health; so policy frameworks for dealing with these diseases are often weak.37,38
Early detection and control efforts reduce disease incidence in people and animals
Wild animal cases Domestic animal cases Human cases
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0 0 In addition, in many
developing countries there are major disconnects between policy and implementation. Successful control of zoonoses requires a judicious legal and policy framework, well- functioning institutions, adequate financing, rapid detection, and an intervention implementation plan. Collaborative multidisciplinary and multinational research will also be needed to explore the linkages among environmental dynamics, disease vectors, pathogens, and human susceptibility.36
Both logic and experience suggest that zoonoses can be best tackled through interventions involving the livestock hosts of the disease pathogens–but, while there are many local success stories, a sound evidence base is lacking regarding the costs, benefits, acceptability, and scalability of such interventions.39-42 A significant constraint to involving agriculture in the control of zoonoses is the lack of collaboration between medical and veterinary authorities, leaving zoonoses concerns sidelined,
26 Early detection
Forecasting readiness
Control operations Rapid response
Control benefits to people
Control benefits to animals
7
14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 Time (days)
84 Source: Karesh et al. (2012)25
Early control of zoonotic disease is both cost-effective and prevents human disease
Exposure in animals
Exposure in humans
Clinical signs in animals
Clinical signs in
humans
Humans seek medical care
Cost of control outbreak
Source: World Bank (2012)7
Number of cases
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