

It is also focused on conservation regulations, rather than disease.
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Meanwhile, government regulation is “inconsistent and full of holes,” Linder said. Multiple outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu have already happened this year at these events, according to the report, and swine flu has previously spilled over into humans at markets in Minnesota. There are over 130 live bird markets in the Northeast alone, the report found.

The United States is also the leading importer of livestock and wild animals, including more than 220 million live wild animals annually. These particular animals can transmit influenza. Americans also raise more pigs and poultry than nearly any other country, Linder said. produces more than 10 billion land animals for food annually. “We just discovered so much that was surprising to us,” report co-author Dale Jamieson, director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection at NYU, told the Times.Īmong the facts they unearthed were that the U.S. The authors considered the number of animals involved, the pathogens they are known to carry, interactions with humans and biosecurity practices. The markets included those for dog breeding, hunting and trapping, petting zoos and livestock auctions. portion of the ongoing international study, researchers analyzed 36 animal markets, interviewing experts and reviewing publicly available data, government regulations and scientific papers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.įor the U.S. That’s also true of about 75% of new and emerging infectious diseases, according to the U.S. The origins of the COVID-19 virus are still uncertain.Ībout 60% of infectious diseases are “zoonotic,” or start in animals. This issue rose to the surface, of course, because of the pandemic. “It can happen wherever there is frequent wild or domestic animal and human interactions.” “The risk of disease transmission is not really confined to a particular geography or cultural practice,” he added. Suresh Kuchipudi, an expert on zoonotic disease at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, told the Times.

The new report “should change the narrative” that spillover is a “foreign” problem, Dr. The United States also “has no comprehensive strategy” to mitigate the dangers, and these practices often happen out of view and without regulation, the report said.

“And we don’t even really understand where that risk is.” “The risk is staggering, because our use of animals is staggering,” report author Ann Linder, a research fellow at Harvard’s animal law and policy program, told T he New York Times. Researchers from Harvard Law School and New York University (NYU) studied this as part of a larger project in which they aim to assess zoonotic disease risks related to animal industries in 15 countries. Livestock, Pet Industries Pose Disease Threat to PeopleįRIDAY, J- American industry engages in some of the same high-risk practices as other countries in keeping and selling commercial animals that have the potential for triggering outbreaks of disease among humans, a new report shows.
