Called for:
➡️Closure of live animal markets that trade in wildlife
➡️Strengthening efforts to combat trafficking of wild animals
➡️Change dangerous wildlife consumption behaviors, esp. in cities
The Berlin Principles called for a united effort to prevent the emergence or resurgence of diseases that threaten humans, wildlife, and livestock. Said governments, academia, and civil society need to break down barriers.
Also decisions on land, sea, and freshwater use directly impact health. Alterations in ecosystems paired with decreased resiliency generate shifts in communicable and non-communicable disease emergence, exacerbation, and spread.
This is not first time we issued such a call.
@TheWCS efforts to combat this threat date back over a decade. The Manhattan Principles on #OneHealth were issued in 2004 in the aftermath of outbreaks of #WestNile Virus, #SARS, and more: bit.ly/2KXnvHM
From the 2004 Manhattan Principles: We are in an era of “One World, One Health” and we must devise adaptive, forward-looking and multidisciplinary solutions to the challenges that undoubtedly lie ahead. Emphasis on: “Undoubtedly lie ahead” #OneHealth
To prevent future outbreaks, impacting human health, well-being, economies, and security, we recommend stopping all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption (particularly of birds & mammals). Closing all such markets.
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COMMENTARY: If we are to minimize species loss and collapse in ecosystem function, we must do all we can to support Indigenous Peoples’ rights & their efforts to protect their lands & waters, write WCS’s David Wilkie, @sslieberman, & @cyclonewatson. 1/10
Why? Decisions Indigenous Peoples have made over generations have done more to protect species and ecological systems than all the protected areas established and managed by individual countries combined. bit.ly/2SbAIAq
Even 135 yrs after Louis Pasteur successfully vaccinated against rabies, this preventable but deadly viral disease remains one of most neglected in developing world.
Its greatest burden falls on poor rural communities and especially on children in Africa & Asia. #WorldRabiesDay
Since rabid domestic dogs are the cause of 99% of global deaths from rabies in humans, dog vaccination, coupled with education and control of feral dog populations, is the key to fighting this devastating disease. 2/
Since rabies also severely affects endangered wildlife species such as the Ethiopian wolf and African wild dogs, vaccination of domestic dogs at the landscape level by veterinarians also contributes to the conservation of these unique animal species. 3/
Majority of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic—they jump from wildlife to people. Key to addressing this: our interactions, exploitation, and destruction of nature.
NOW: Christian Walzer of @WcsHealth will be speaking at #NatureForLife Hub. Watch live on our Facebook.
At WCS, our policy recommends stopping all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption (particularly of birds and mammals) and closing all such markets.
Also: we have to acknowledge that outbreaks are inevitable as the interfaces between wildlife and humans increase, primarily due to deforestation and agricultural expansion, as WCS's Christian Walzer wrote in @FrontiersIn yesterday. doi.org/10.3389/fvets.…#NatureForLife
Nature-based solutions can provide up to 30% percent of the action needed by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. #NatureForLife#ClimateChange
Intact forests are estimated to absorb 1/4 of total global carbon pollution annually, but we're losing them far too rapidly. #NatureForLife