Urbanization and Disease Emergence: Dynamics at the Wildlife–Livestock–Human Interface

Abstract

Urbanization is characterized by rapid intensification of agriculture, socioeconomic change, and ecological fragmentation, which can have profound impacts on the epidemiology of infectious disease. Here, we review current scientific evidence for the drivers and epidemiology of emerging wildlife-borne zoonoses in urban landscapes, where anthropogenic pressures can create diverse wildlife–livestock–human interfaces. We argue that these interfaces represent a critical point for cross-species transmission and emergence of pathogens into new host populations, and thus understanding their form and function is necessary to identify suitable interventions to mitigate the risk of disease emergence. To achieve this, interfaces must be studied as complex, multihost communities whose structure and form are dictated by both ecological and anthropological factors.

Dynamic, spatial models of parasite transmission in wildlife: Their structure, applications and remaining challenges

“…In a survey of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in wildlife, anthropogenic activities aided emergence in at least half of the cases (Dobson & Foufopoulos, ). Increasingly urbanized environments can alter contacts between humans and wildlife, potentially making transmission events more likely (Bradley & Altizer, ; Hassell, Begon, Ward, & Fèvre, ), and urbanization may directly or indirectly affect animal movement and migration patterns (Altizer, Bartel, & Han, ; Plowright et al., ). Disease models are an important tool for understanding the effects of spatial heterogeneity in conjunction with these global changes because they can predict future disease trends, estimate important epidemiological parameters, test mechanistic explanations for observed patterns and integrate data from different scales (Lloyd‐Smith et al., ).…”

Changing resource landscapes and spillover of henipaviruses

“…Changes in the abundance, quality, and composition of resources on the landscape move these HNV systems into conditions primed for cross‐species transmission. The idea that anthropogenic global change increases spillover risk of zoonoses by disturbing habitat in ways that increase contact between wildlife, humans, and domestic animals has been extensively reviewed, but there are few data from empirical studies or conceptual outlines that point to mechanistic processes . Cross‐species transmission is a complex event, and most studies and reviews either focus on specific components isolated from the ecological context of the system (e.g., anti‐inflammatory immune response in bats; see Ref.…”

“…This hinders our understanding of the general ways that the poor resource landscapes might affect the immune status of pteropodids, as well as more complex allocation trade‐offs between immunity and other life‐history traits that are thought to occur during resource restriction. For example, the general links between migration and disease, urbanization and disease, and anthropogenic resources and disease have been well reviewed in the literature elsewhere. Across these contexts, pathogen transmission and spillover risk seem to be particularly heightened if migratory capacity is reduced.…”

Disease biogeography: spatial and temporal analyses of infectious disease burden at the country-level scale provides new insights and challenges

“…This result is important because it contradicts the idea that urbanization may cause increases in disease transmission and outbreaks (Hassell et al 2017). However, it also may imply that decreasing contact with zoonotic disease hosts or increasing access to health care are likely to outweigh any potential disease risks from increased human population.…”