Content area
Full Text
EcoHealth 6, 5870, 2009DOI: 10.1007/s10393-009-0226-0
Jessica H. Leibler,1 Joachim Otte,2 David Roland-Holst,3 Dirk U. Pfeiffer,4Ricardo Soares Magalhaes,5 Jonathan Rushton,4 Jay P. Graham,6 and Ellen K. Silbergeld1
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
2Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy
3Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA
4Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK
5School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
6U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC
Abstract: Many emerging infectious diseases in human populations are associated with zoonotic origins.
Attention has often focused on wild animal reservoirs, but most zoonotic pathogens of recent concern to human health either originate in, or are transferred to, human populations from domesticated animals raised for human consumption. Thus, the ecological context of emerging infectious disease comprises two overlapping ecosystems: the natural habitats and populations of wild animals, and the anthropogenically controlled habitats and populations of domesticated species. Intensive food animal production systems and their associated value chains dominate in developed countries and are increasingly important in developing countries. These systems are characterized by large numbers of animals being raised in connement with high throughput and rapid turnover. Although not typically recognized as such, industrial food animal production generates unique ecosystemsenvironments that may facilitate the evolution of zoonotic pathogens and their transmission to human populations. It is often assumed that conned food animal production reduces risks of emerging zoonotic diseases. This article provides evidence suggesting that these industrial systems may increase animal and public health risks unless there is recognition of the specic biosecurity and biocontainment challenges of the industrial model. Moreover, the economic drivers and constraints faced by the industry and its participants must be fully understood in order to inform preventative policy. In order to more effectively reduce zoonotic disease risk from industrial food animal production, private incentives for the implementation of biosecurity must align with public health interests.
Keywords: inuenza A virus, avian, poultry, zoonoses, agriculture, biosecurity
INTRODUCTION
The high-prole emergence of human diseases from animal populations, such as Nipah virus infection in 1999, SARS in 2002, and highly pathogenic avian inuenza (HPAI) from
This article is a modied version of a Research Report of the Pro-Poor...