Deforestation and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: A Global Pandemic Signal
This review examines deforestation as a major anthropogenic-induced factor for emerging zoonotic diseases causing considerable pandemic signals with serious health, social and economic constraints. Forest destruction leads to increased contact between wildlife, domestic animals and humans, thereby increasing the risk of zoonosis transmission and global pandemics. Many of the emerging zoonotic diseases, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Coronavirus), Ebola virus disease, Monkey pox virus, Nipah virus, Yellow fever, Zika virus, Lyme disease, Dengue fever, Cysticercosis, Avian influenza, Changas virus, Lassa fever, and Chikungunya, among others, have been discovered, and these diseases are emerging at a rate that has not been seen before, especially in the last 10 years. The potential for emerging zoonoses to spread rapidly and cause global pandemics is a major source of concern, hence the need for combating measures to deal with the challenges of deforestation and emerging zoonotic disease pandemics, including the implementation of laws and regulations, interdisciplinary collaboration, establishment of disease testing and reporting centers, awareness and surveillance, alternative sources of income, and establishment of essential projects and interventions for forest conservation and zoonosis emergence. These measures will reduce further pandemic signals and their consequences.
Keywords: Deforestation, Zoonosis emergence, Pandemic, Anthropogenic, Coronavirus.
