Wildlife trafficking practices have resulted in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Exotic wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry that involves the removal and shipment of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and fish all over the world. Traded wild animals are used for bushmeat consumption, unconventional exotic pets, animal skin clothing accessories, home trophy decorations, privately owned zoos, and for traditional medicine practices. Dating back centuries, people from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe have used animal bones, horns, or organs for their believed healing effects on the human body. Wild tigers, rhinos, elephants, pangolins, and certain reptile species are acquired through legal and illegal trade operations in order to continue these historic cultural healing practices. Within the last decade nearly 975 different wild animal taxa groups have been legally and illegally exported out of Africa and imported into areas like China, Japan, Indonesia, the United States, Russia, Europe, and South America. Consuming or owning exotic animals can propose unexpected and dangerous health risks. A number of animals, wild or domesticated, carry infectious diseases and approximately 75% of wildlife diseases are vector-borne viral zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are complex infections residing in animals and can be transmitted to humans. The emergence of zoonotic diseases usually occurs in three stages. Initially the disease is spread through a series of spillover events between domesticated and wildlife populations living in close quarters. Diseases then spread through series of direct contact methods, indirect contact methods, contaminated foods, or vector-borne transmissions. After one of these transmission methods occurs, the disease then rises exponentially in human populations living in close proximities. After the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose origins have been linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the acting executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, called for a global ban on wildlife markets to prevent future pandemics. Others have also called for a total ban on the global wildlife trade or for already existing bans to be enforced, in order both to reduce cruelty to animals as well as to reduce health risks to humans, or to implement other disease control intervention measures in lieu of total bans.
One Health perspective Wildlife trade is increasingly addressed through a One Health framework because the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems is closely interconnected. The World Health Organization describes One Health as an integrated, unifying approach that links people, animals, and the environment, and notes that trade in live wild animals can increase the likelihood of disease spillover into humans. In the wildlife trade supply chain, capture, transport, holding, and sale may bring wild animals, domestic animals, and humans into close contact, especially where animal welfare, hygiene, and biosecurity measures are limited. WOAH has similarly emphasized that wildlife health, ecosystem health, and human health should be addressed together, rather than as separate sectors.
Drivers of disease emergence Human activities that alter ecosystems can amplify the disease risks associated with wildlife trade. According to WHO, important stressors include animal trade, agriculture, livestock farming, urbanization, extractive industries, climate change, habitat fragmentation, and encroachment into wild areas. UNEP has likewise described zoonotic emergence as being driven by land-use change, exploitation of wildlife, and intensified contact among people, domestic animals, and wildlife. These pressures can interact with the wildlife trade chain, where animals from different sources and species may be mixed during harvesting, transport, and market sale, creating additional opportunities for pathogen transmission and spillover.
Prevention and risk reduction Recent guidance has increasingly favored risk-based management across the wildlife trade chain rather than a single uniform response. A rapid review commissioned by WOAH found substantial evidence gaps but concluded that disease prevention strategies should be evaluated in relation to feasibility, sustainability, biodiversity impacts, public health protection, and local livelihoods. WOAH's 2024 guidelines for addressing disease risks in wildlife trade propose a high-level framework based on stakeholder engagement, system mapping, hazard identification, risk assessment, risk management, risk communication, and monitoring and evaluation. Within a One Health approach, commonly recommended measures include stronger surveillance, improved sanitary and biosecurity standards, reduced high-risk cross-species mixing, protection of ecosystem integrity, and coordination among veterinary, public health, environmental, and trade authorities.
Types of zoonotic disease transmissions Direct contact transmissions occur when humans encounter first hand contaminated feces, urine, water sources, or bodily fluids. Bodily fluid transmission may happen either from ingesting pathogens or through open wound contact. Indirect contact transmissions occur when humans interact within an infected species' habitat. Humans are often exposed to contaminated soils, plants, and surfaces where bacterial germs are present. Contaminated food transmissions occur when humans eat infected bushmeat, vegetables, fruits, or drink contaminated water. Often these food and water supplies are tainted by fecal pellets of infected bats, birds, or monkeys. Vector-borne transmissions occur when individuals are bitten by infected parasites such as ticks or insects like mosquitos and fleas. Other factors for escalated disease transmissions include climate change, globalization of trade, accelerated logging practices, irrigation increases, sexual activity between individuals, blood transfusions, and urbanization developments near infected ecosystems.
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