Wildlife trade raises risk of disease spread to humans: Study

A captured baby monkey sits in a cage. Representation pic/iStock

Wildlife trade increases the chances of pathogen transmission between animals and humans, according to a new study that combined 40 years of legal and illegal wildlife import-export data - practices concern a quarter of all mammal species.

Researchers investigated host-pathogen relationships and found that wild mammals are 1.5 times more likely to share infectious agents with humans, while illegal dealings further increase these adverse interactions.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever