The consequences of human actions on risks for infectious diseases: a review
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 1 January 2015
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Infection Ecology & Epidemiology
- Vol. 5 (1), 30048
- https://doi.org/10.3402/iee.v5.30048
Abstract
The human population is growing, requiring more space for food production, and needing more animals to feed it. Emerging infectious diseases are increasing, causing losses in both human and animal lives, as well as large costs to society. Many factors are contributing to disease emergence, including climate change, globalization and urbanization, and most of these factors are to some extent caused by humans. Pathogens may be more or less prone to emergence in themselves, and rapidly mutating viruses are more common among the emerging pathogens. The climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases are likely to be emerging due to climate changes and environmental changes, such as increased irrigation. This review lists the factors within pathogens that make them prone to emergence, and the modes of transmission that are affected. The anthropogenic changes contributing to disease emergence are described, as well as how they directly and indirectly cause either increased numbers of susceptible or exposed individuals, or cause increased infectivity. Many actions may have multiple direct or indirect effects, and it may be difficult to assess what the consequences may be. In addition, most anthropogenic drivers are related to desired activities, such as logging, irrigation, trade, and travelling, which the society is requiring. It is important to research more about the indirect and direct effects of the different actions to understand both the benefits and the risks. Keywords: emerging infectious diseases; zoonoses; ecosystem changes; disease dynamics; food security; food safety (Published: 27 November 2015) Citation: Infection Ecology and Epidemiology 2015, 5: 30048 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/iee.v5.30048Keywords
This publication has 95 references indexed in Scilit:
- Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental changeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Higher Mosquito Production in Low-Income Neighborhoods of Baltimore and Washington, DC: Understanding Ecological Drivers and Mosquito-Borne Disease Risk in Temperate CitiesInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2013
- Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem healthNature, 2012
- Urbanization and its implications for food and farmingPhilosophical Transactions B, 2010
- Mycotoxins and human disease: a largely ignored global health issueCarcinogenesis: Integrative Cancer Research, 2009
- Mapping H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza risk in Southeast AsiaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Global trends in emerging infectious diseasesNature, 2008
- Urbanization, malaria transmission and disease burden in AfricaNature Reviews Microbiology, 2005
- Emerging infectious diseases of plants: pathogen pollution, climate change and agrotechnology driversTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2004
- Rates of Molecular Evolution in RNA Viruses: A Quantitative Phylogenetic AnalysisJournal of Molecular Evolution, 2002