ZSL #031 Habitat loss and human health – understanding the links between ecosystem degradation and infectious disease outbreaks

After more than a year of Covid-19 impacting global populations, health systems and economies, one of the major questions being asked was how did this start, and how can we prevent it from happening again? As we humans increasingly disturb our planet’s natural habitats and convert them to agricultural and urban areas, the way we interact with wildlife around us also changes. In this episode, Monni turns to a team of experts in wildlife diseases, to discuss this link between ecosystem degradation and infectious disease outbreaks. What makes an animal a good host for carrying zoonotic diseases? Can we predict and prevent infectious disease outbreaks in the future? And exactly what does a job as ‘human bait’ entail?

Guests:

• Dr Rory Gibb, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Dr Christina Faust, Pennsylvania State University
• Dr Kimberly Fornace, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Overview

01:40   Monni welcomes Dr Rory Gibb, to discuss zoonotic hosts and their response to land-use change, and how we should move forward to help human health in the future.

18:28   Dr Christina Faust joins Monni to explore disease transmission, explaining where transmission is more likely to happen in different types of landscapes, and how this could be tracked to avoid future outbreaks in humans.

28:43   Monni is joined by the final guest, Dr Kimberly Fornace, to discuss the Monkey Bar project, and how different technologies such as drones and radio collars were used to monitor monkey malaria.

Hosted by Dr Monni Böhm, ZSL Research Fellow and produced by Eleanor Darbey, ZSL Scientific Events Coordinator.