Zoonotic Pathogens in Wildlife Traded in Markets for Human Consumption, Laos

Abstract

C onsumption of wildlife meat drives emerging infectious diseases (1), often amplified by human encroachment into natural areas and changes in land use. Wildlife trade and consumption have been responsible for outbreaks of diseases such as HIV-1 (2), Ebola (3), and monkeypox (4) and possibly for the coronavirus disease pandemic (5). Wildlife markets bring diverse species into contact, usually in dense and unsanitary conditions, enabling mixing, amplification, and transmission of pathogens among species, including humans (6). Small mammals host diverse pathogenic bacteria and viruses (7), but little investigation of endemic bacteria transmission has occurred. Determining pathogens present in traded wildlife is vital to guide appropriate measures to combat zoonotic diseases and document societal and environmental costs of wildlife trade.

From Protected Habitat to Agricultural Land: Dogs and Small Mammals Link Habitats in Northern Thailand

“…This rodent species was previously mentioned as a bridge species favouring disease transmission between habitats [9,14]. The ground squirrel M. berdmorei should merit attention due to its synanthropic behaviour, its centrality in the network of sharing habitats, and its potential role in emerging infectious diseases [29].…”

Scaling up One Health: A network analysis in Lao PDR

“…Despite a resource constrained environment, the organisational network in Lao PDR has been able to provide successful examples of One Health projects [ 8 , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] ]. Given the structure of the network this highlights the importance of those organisations at the core of the network.…”

“…One Health and the closely related Ecohealth approaches have been applied in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) for multiple decades [ 8 ]. This has included successful discrete projects on pandemic threats, zoonotic pathogens, antimicrobial resistance and more [ [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] ]. These successes have involved a network of organisations and relationships whose structure and experiences have yet to be investigated and learnt from.…”

Leptospirosis and the Environment: A Review and Future Directions

“…However, some evidence suggests that large carnivores such as lynx and wolf species are exposed to leptospirosis frequently—likely in the small rodents and other mammalian prey that they consume [ 183 , 184 , 185 ]. Wild rodents, including large rodents such as capybara ( Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ), beavers ( Castor fiber and Castor canadensis ), and various species of smaller rodents such as squirrels and mice, are also common wildlife species that carry leptospirosis [ 186 , 187 , 188 , 189 , 190 , 191 , 192 , 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 ]. Leptospirosis can be extremely common among small mammal populations in an environment [ 185 , 186 , 202 ], as shown in one such study that reveals 62.4% of small mammals tested carried Leptospira [ 203 ].…”