Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are those diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Scientists say that every year zoonoses account for more than 60 percent of known infectious diseases reported globally, causing approximately 2.5 billion cases of illness and 2.7 million deaths.
COVID.19, which is caused by the zoonotic coronavirus SARS.CoV.2, has had devastating impacts. By late July, according to Johns Hopkins University, there were over 16.8 million confirmed infections worldwide and more than 662,000 deaths. The illegal wild animal trade heightens the risk of zoonotic disease infection and transmission among humans. In fact, said former US Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe in recent Congressional testimony: “Wild animals are the source of most emerging infectious diseases in humans.” Especially since the emergence of the COVID.19 pandemic, AWF and other organisations have sounded the alarm about why the conservation of wildlife and wild lands is crucial to public health.
Prioritising biodiversity