The pangolin, one of the most poached animals in the world, could have served as an intermediate host in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans.
Wahyudi/AFP
Covid-19, like other major epidemics, is not unrelated to the biodiversity and climate crisis we are experiencing.
Antonio, from the Yanomami village of Watoriki, photographed in November 1992. After contact with Brazilian society in the 1970s, more than half the Yanomami population died from infectious diseases.
William Milliken
There are telling parallels between the current pandemic and those that decimated indigenous populations in the post-Columbian era in the Amazon.
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There aren’t enough international and domestic laws to address how the interests of humans and the needs of wildlife overlap.
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According to Google Trends, the top globally trending topic this week is ‘orthohantavirus’, as spurious sites claim it’s next pandemic on the horizon. The claim is baseless.
Stray cows rest on a New Delhi street during a one-day civil curfew to combat coronavirus. Cattle may have been central to a coronavirus outbreak in 1890.
Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
Could the 1889-1890 pandemic have been the result of cow coronaviruses jumping to humans?
Medical workers talk with a woman suspected of being ill with a coronavirus at a community health station in Wuhan, China, in January 2020.
Chinatopix via AP
Social media has allowed researchers around the world to collaborate and co-ordinate their efforts to fight the outbreak and contain its spread.
Passengers on a tram in China wear surgical masks to guard against viral infection.
Willie Siau/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Two coronaviruses were identified in the 1960s, and five since SARS in 2003. It is the seventh that is now making headlines.
When a game of fetch can harm: leptospirosis can be transmitted to dogs (and humans) from stagnant water contaminated with rat urine.
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Leptospirosis is spread by rats and other rodents, potentially killing dogs and humans. But we can protect ourselves and our pets.
The Nipah virus in India is just one example of a viral outbreak in 2018.
PRAKASH ELAMAKKARA/EAP/AAP
It doesn’t just seem like the world is experiencing more viral infections than before – it’s a reality. And the way humans live today helps viruses thrive.
An increasingly mobile global population is making it easier for infectious diseases to spread.
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Travel allows us to see the world – and bring foreign diseases home. Here’s why spreading disease is easier than ever.
Thelazia gulosa is an eyeworm parasite that infects cows. But an Oregon woman’s discovery of the worms in her own eye has raised concerns about parasites that jump from animals to humans.
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A stomach-churning viral video of an Oregon woman who describes removing cattle eyeworms from her eye has renewed interest in parasites that jump from animals to humans. Here’s all you need to know.
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Pets give us a lot of joy … and sometimes a few diseases.
Justin A. Welbergen
We need balanced media reporting about bat-borne diseases to help avoid vilification of Australia’s under-appreciated creatures of the night.
A coyote cools off in the shade of a leafy suburb. Wildlife interactions with pets and humans can transfer disease, including the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis.
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A parasite found in coyotes, wolves and foxes is now spreading to dogs and their owners as its range expands across Canada.
Plague still exists in wild rodents and eradication probably isn’t possible.
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A plague outbreak in Madagascar has killed 170 people. Here’s what you need to know about treatment options and chances it will spread.
Tackling local diseases like rabies could help health authorities identify new outbreaks more easily.
N. Bastiaensen/World Organisation for Animal Health
By tackling local threats and controlling existing diseases, countries are able to build the capacity needed to deal with future emerging disease threats.
Rice famers near Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Darren Curnoe
Twelve thousand years ago everybody lived as hunters and gatherers. But by 5,000 years ago most people lived as farmers. This brief period marked the biggest shift ever in human history with unparalleled…
Researchers have found Australia’s first confirmed case of tularemia in a ringtail possum.
Andrew Mercer/flickr
Tularemia is an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans. While it can be fatal, it is rare in Australia and can be treated with antibiotics.
Slaughterhouses in parts of rural Kenya don’t adhere to basic hygiene standards.
EPA/Stafford Ondego
Slaughterhouses are an essential step in meat production. Hygiene standards need to be maintained to prevent the spread of diseases.
The H5N8 virus is especially dangerous for migratory birds.
Meinzer Wyman/Flickr
Studies of animal-human interactions in various settings could perhaps help prevent bird flu and the mass slaughter of animals it inevitably leads to.