Editor: Damia BarceloTrade of bushmeat and other wildlife for human consumption presents a unique set of challenges to policymakers who are confronted with multiple trade-offs between conservation, food security, food safety, culture and tradition. In the face of these complex issues, risk assessments supported by quantitative information would facilitate evidence-based decision making. We propose a conceptual model for disease transmission risk analysis, inclusive of these multiple other facets. To quantify several processes included in this conceptual model we conducted questionnaire surveys with wildlife consumers and vendors in semi-urban centers in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR, Laos) and direct observations of consumer behaviors. Direct observation of market stalls indicated an estimated average of 10 kg j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s c i t o t e n v bushmeat biomass per stall per hour. The socio-demographic data suggested that consumption of bushmeat in urban areas was not for subsistence but rather driven by dietary preference and tradition. Consumer behavioral observations indicated that each animal receives an average of 7 contacts per hour. We provide other key parameters to estimate the risk of disease transmission from bushmeat consumption and illustrate their use in assessing the total public health and socio-economic impact of bushmeat consumption. Pursuing integrative approaches to the study of bushmeat consumption is essential to develop effective and balanced policies that support conservation, public health, and rural development goals.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease affecting both domestic and wild suids. The virus was introduced to Southeast Asia in early 2019 and has since spread rapidly throughout the region. Although significant efforts have been made to track and diagnose the disease in domestic pigs, very little is known about ASF in free‐ranging wild boar and their potential role in maintaining the disease within Southeast Asia. Through a collaboration between government and non‐government actors in Laos, Viet Nam, and Cambodia, investigations were conducted to (a) characterize the interface between domestic pigs and wild boar, (b) document risk factors for likely ASF spillover into wild boar populations by way of this interface, and (c) determine whether ASF in wild boar could be detected in each country. An extensive overlap between wild boar habitat and domestic pig ranging areas was found around villages bordering forests in all three countries, creating a high‐risk interface for viral spillover between domestic pig and wild boar populations. Fifteen and three wild boar carcasses were detected through passive reporting in Laos and Viet Nam, respectively, in 2019 and early 2020. Four of five carcasses screened in Laos and two of three in Viet Nam were confirmed positive for African swine fever virus using real‐time PCR. There were no confirmed reports of wild boar carcasses in Cambodia. This is the first confirmation of ASF in wild boar in Southeast Asia, the result of a probable viral spillover from domestic pigs, which highlights the importance of early reporting and monitoring of ASF in wild boar to enable the implementation of appropriate biosecurity measures.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Hunting for the wild meat trade, medicines and other human uses has decimated Indo‐Burma's vertebrate biota and has led to widespread defaunation. Yet, there is surprisingly little data on how hunting impacts wild bird assemblages in different landscapes here. Based on concurrent snapshot surveys of bird hunting, food markets and hunting attitudes across six Indo‐Burma countries, we found that hunting threatens species not only in forested landscapes but also wetlands and farmlands such as orchards and paddy fields—ecosystems overlooked by past studies, with at least 47 species associated with wetlands and agricultural lands identified from market surveys across the region. High rates of mortality are suffered when hunting tools such as nets are used to exclude perceived bird pests in both aquaculture and agricultural landscapes, with over 300 individual carcasses of at least 29 identifiable species detected in one aquaculture landscape sampled in Thailand. We warn that the potentially unsustainable trapping of species for consumption and trade in Indo‐Burma, coupled with high incidental mortalities, could decimate the populations of erstwhile common and/or legally unprotected species. There is an urgent need for stronger regulatory oversight on the hunting take of wild birds and the use of hunting tools such as nets. Alongside this, conservation practitioners need to better engage with rural communities to address unsustainable hunting practices, especially outside of protected areas.
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