Wildlife and the risk of vector-borne viral diseases
In: Emerging pests and vector-borne diseases in EuropeSearch for other papers by Byron E. Martina in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Albert D.M.E. Osterhaus in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
In the past decades, several viruses have been identified that originated from animal reservoirs and pose a direct hazard to humanity. These include HIV, Sin Nombre virus, SARS coronavirus, and avian influenza viruses. Numerous longer known viruses are rapidly expanding their geographical range, with a corresponding increase in burden of human disease. These include several vector-borne viral diseases. In our globalising world, there are numerous, largely interrelated factors, which predispose for this increase. For the emergence of vector-borne viral diseases, changes in land-use, climate and human behaviour, modification of agricultural practices, increases in international and intercontinental travelling, and disruption of wildlife habitats have proven to be important in this respect. Virtually all these factors directly or indirectly influence the presence and density of reservoir hosts and vectors. Most vector-borne viral diseases originating from wild animal reservoirs are maintained in sylvatic and urban cycles. Here we discuss vector-borne viral diseases, which pose a risk to public health in Europe.