Livestock expansion is a factor in global pandemics

The number of epidemics of infectious diseases affecting humans is positively associated with global livestock increases from the beginning of the 1960s until 2019. Serge Morand/ Biological Conservation - The growth of global livestock farming is a threat to our biodiversity and also increases the health risks to both humans and domesticated animals. The patterns that link them are at the heart of a study published in Biological Conservation by a scientist from the Institute of Evolution Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM - CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development's (CIRAD) ASTRE laboratory. Research has shown a global increase in the emergence of infectious diseases and epidemics, an accelerated loss of biodiversity and a marked increase in the breeding of domesticated animals. This subject was brought back to the fore by the COVID-19 outbreak and a new study in parasite ecology is providing some initial answers to the ongoing question of whether these events are connected. Its goal was to trace the global patterns of biodiversity and infectious diseases both spatially and temporally. To achieve this, the researcher cross referenced various open databases 1 on human and animal health, livestock expansion and biodiversity loss.