Dealing in deadly pathogens: Taking stock of the legal trade in live wildlife and potential risks to human health

Abstract

a b s t r a c tZoonotic diseases cause millions of deaths every year. Diseases such as Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and avian influenza cause economic losses at the global level and jeopardize diplomatic relations between countries. As wildlife are the source of at least 70% of all emerging diseases and given the on-going concerns associated with wildlife trade as a disease transmission mechanism, we provide a 'global snapshot' of the legal trade in live wild animals and take stock of the potential health risks that it poses to global human health. Our analysis showed that 11,569,796 individual live wild animals, representing 1316 different species were exported from 189 different countries between 2012 and 2016. China was the largest exporter of live mammals (with 98,979 animals representing 58.7% of global trade). Nicaragua was the largest exporter of live amphibians (with 122,592 animals representing 53.8% of global trade). South Africa was the largest exporter of live birds (with 889,607 animals representing 39.2% of global trade). Peru was the largest exporter of live reptiles (with 1,675,490 animals representing 18.8% of global trade). Our analysis showed that mostly the USA and other high-income countries, the largest importers, drive the live animal trade. High-income countries and not the countries where wildlife diseases and pathogens are more likely to occur reported almost all of the disease reports to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Based on our findings, we discuss how maximising trade bans; working on human behaviour change and improving regulatory efforts to improve surveillance will decrease the risk of future pandemics, epidemics and outbreaks.

Risky Business: Live Non-CITES Wildlife UK Imports and the Potential for Infectious Diseases

“…As is the case for other types of wildlife trade, the trade in exotic pets can be legal, illegal, or a combination of both, depending on how a species is classified as it moves throughout the market chain [20]. Trade in live animals poses a risk to global human health regardless of legality, because pathogens transported on host organisms can be circulated regardless of legal conditions [12]. Illegal wildlife trade is characterised by "unlawful activities associated with the commercial exploitation and trade of wildlife specimens, either living organisms or harvested parts there-of" [3].…”

“…Despite the current economic benefits, disease outbreaks associated with wildlife trade also periodically cause hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage [11] and millions of human deaths [12], as illustrated by the recent global COVID-19 pandemic. Unless the nature of wildlife trade shifts considerably, the increasing rate of biotic exchange indicates there will be greater opportunities for pathogens to proliferate across the globe [8].…”

Synergistic China–US Ecological Research is Essential for Global Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness

“…Increasingly complex and robust global trade systems are also fueling the legal and illegal wildlife trade markets. The USA is the largest importer, and China is the largest exporter of legally traded wild mammals (Can et al 2019) and while challenging to quantify, China is considered the leading country in the consumption and illegal trade of wildlife (Karesh et al 2005;Patel et al 2015). Southern China is a hub for domestically and internationally imported and exported wildlife given its strategic geographic location near major ports of trade, dense human population and increasing human mobility.…”

“…China and the USA are well positioned as leaders in the field of EIDs. They are motivated to act out of both national and geopolitical interest and have the resources and instruments to do so: Together they produce over 40% of the world's livestock (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2019; Beef2Live 2019; National Hog Farmer 2019), are the largest legal export/import countries for mammals in the global wildlife trade (Can et al 2019) and constitute a quarter of the world's population (Worldometers 2018), and over 30% of the world's purchasing-power-parity gross domestic product (GDP-PPP) (World Bank 2019) [ Fig. 1 (Guha-Sapir 2019; Ritchie and Roser 2019)].…”

Wild Mammal Translocations: A Public Health Concern

“…Concerning to the wildlife trade, Can et al [35] also highlighted the potential for spreading of zoonotic diseases.…”