IJVPH

  • Print ISSN: 0976-948X
  • Online ISSN: 3048-5738
The Link between Biodiversity Degradation and Zoonotic Diseases
Volume 9 | Issue 2 | June 2023
AUTHOR(S)
Chanchal Debnath, Rahul Barua, Ripan Biswas

ABSTRACT

According to the World Health Organization (1959) “Zoonoses are diseases and infections which are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man”. Today, about 60% of all infectious diseases are zoonoses and more than 75% newly emerging infectious diseases originate in animals and 71% of the total events of emergence of infectious diseases originate in wildlife and disease emergence is considered to have a close association with biodiversity. Biodiversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystem they form- a result of billions of years of evolution. There are increasing researches showing that higher biodiversity markedly reduces the rates of pathogen transmission thereby arresting the numbers of spill-over events lowering the emerging zoonoses risks for human beings. The most studied inhibitory effect of increased biodiversity on pathogen transmission or spill over is known as “dilution effect.” Several anthropogenic and so-called developmental activities cause the degradation of biodiversity thereby reducing the dilution effect resulting increased risk of spillover events and disease emergence. To mitigate the occurrence of these dreadful events in future conservation of biodiversity is needed.

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DOI
https://doi.org/10.62418/ijvph.9.2.2023.1-6
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Corresponding author’s email ID: chanchalvet78@gmail.com
Citation: Debnath C, Barua R, Biswas R. The Link between Biodiversity Degradation and Zoonotic Diseases. Indian Journal of Veterinary Public Health. 2023; 9(2): 1-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62418/ijvph.9.2.2023.1-6