Illegal Wildlife Trade and Emerging Infectious Diseases: Pervasive Impacts to Species, Ecosystems and Human Health

Simple Summary Wildlife is trafficked illegally across the globe every day. The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) creates opportunity for emerging infectious disease (EID) events to occur. EIDs are a major threat to wildlife, ecosystems, and public health. This study addresses the lack of comprehensive review of pathogens identified in IWT and highlights the expansion of literature on this subject over the past 30 years. We reviewed 82 scientific papers and conference proceedings from 1990 to 2020. Trends in EIDs identified in IWT have significantly increased over the past decade. Cases covered 240 pathogens across all taxa. Approximately 60% of the pathogens identified were zoonotic (transmissible between animals and humans) and threaten public health. Based on our findings, we recommend further research is needed to monitor and prevent the IWT. Emerging infectious disease (EID) events can be traced to anthropogenic factors, including the movement of wildlife through legal and illegal trade. This paper focuses on the link between illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and infectious disease pathogens. A literature review through Web of Science and relevant conference proceedings from 1990 to 2020 resulted in documenting 82 papers and 240 identified pathogen cases. Over 60% of the findings referred to pathogens with known zoonotic potential and five cases directly referenced zoonotic spillover events. The diversity of pathogens by taxa included 44 different pathogens in birds, 47 in mammals, 16 in reptiles, two in amphibians, two in fish, and one in invertebrates. This is the highest diversity of pathogen types in reported literature related to IWT. However, it is likely not a fully representative sample due to needed augmentation of surveillance and monitoring of IWT and more frequent pathogen testing on recovered shipments. The emergence of infectious disease through human globalization has resulted in several pandemics in the last decade including SARS, MERS, avian influenza H1N1,and Ebola. We detailed the growing body of literature on this topic since 2008 and highlight the need to detect, document, and prevent spillovers from high-risk human activities, such as IWT.

Automated summary

Illegal wildlife trade facilitates the spread of pathogens, posing a threat to wildlife, ecosystems, and public health, highlighting the importance of enhanced monitoring and prevention measures.