News Headline
Biodiversity not a risk factor for zoonotic disease emergence, say ecologists
Source
Medical Life Sciences
Publication Date
2017-03-30
Ecologists writing in ESA's open access journal Ecosphere say the opposite is more likely true.The specter of a dangerous new disease emerging from the dark depths of the wilderness, jumping from an animal host to people, is an oft-told horror story, though such "spillover" from wild species is not the most common mechanism through which new diseases emerge. Several recent reviews have expressed concerns that intact ecosystems rich in biodiversity pose a danger to human health by harboring an equal diversity of infectious disease agents.