Implications of Zoonoses From Hunting and Use of Wildlife in North American Arctic and Boreal Biomes: Pandemic Potential, Monitoring, and Mitigation

Frontiers in Public Health

Stéphane Lair¹  Susan Kutz²  Karsten Hueffer³  David S. Lee⁴  Raphaela Stimmelmayr⁵  Damien O. Joly⁶  Nicholas D. Preston⁷  Jonathan M. Sleeman⁸  Craig Stephen⁹  Justina C. Ray^1,10  Donald Reid^1,10  Cheryl-Lesley B. Chetkiewicz^1,10  Stephen J. Insley^1,11  Lucy O. Keatts^1,12  Sarah H. Olson^1,12  Chris Walzer^1,13  Mathieu Pruvot^1,14  Martin Robards^1,15 

[1] Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada;Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada;Department of Veterinary Medicine & Arctic and Northern Studies Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States;Department of Wildlife and Environment, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada;North Slope Department of Wildlife Management, Utqiagvik, AK, United States;Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States;Nyati Health Consulting, Nanaimo, BC, Canada;Salmon Coast Field Station, Echo Bay, BC, Canada;United States Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI, United States;University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada;Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis;Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada;Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada;Wildlife Conservation Society Health Program, Bronx, NY, United States;Wildlife Conservation Society Health Program, Bronx, NY, United States;Conservation Medicine Unit, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria;Wildlife Conservation Society Health Program, Bronx, NY, United States;Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada;Wildlife Conservation Society, Arctic Beringia Program, Fairbanks, AK, United States;

关键词: wildlife;    hunting;    zoonotic;    pandemic;    Arctic;    boreal;    Indigenous;    One Health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.627654

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The COVID-19 pandemic has re-focused attention on mechanisms that lead to zoonotic disease spillover and spread. Commercial wildlife trade, and associated markets, are recognized mechanisms for zoonotic disease emergence, resulting in a growing global conversation around reducing human disease risks from spillover associated with hunting, trade, and consumption of wild animals. These discussions are especially relevant to people who rely on harvesting wildlife to meet nutritional, and cultural needs, including those in Arctic and boreal regions. Global policies around wildlife use and trade can impact food sovereignty and security, especially of Indigenous Peoples. We reviewed known zoonotic pathogens and current risks of transmission from wildlife (including fish) to humans in North American Arctic and boreal biomes, and evaluated the epidemic and pandemic potential of these zoonoses. We discuss future concerns, and consider monitoring and mitigation measures in these changing socio-ecological systems. While multiple zoonotic pathogens circulate in these systems, risks to humans are mostly limited to individual illness or local community outbreaks. These regions are relatively remote, subject to very cold temperatures, have relatively low wildlife, domestic animal, and pathogen diversity, and in many cases low density, including of humans. Hence, favorable conditions for emergence of novel diseases or major amplification of a spillover event are currently not present. The greatest risk to northern communities from pathogens of pandemic potential is via introduction with humans visiting from other areas. However, Arctic and boreal ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes through climate warming, habitat encroachment, and development; all of which can change host and pathogen relationships, thereby affecting the probability of the emergence of new (and re-emergence of old) zoonoses. Indigenous leadership and engagement in disease monitoring, prevention and response, is vital from the outset, and would increase the success of such efforts, as well as ensure the protection of Indigenous rights as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Partnering with northern communities and including Indigenous Knowledge Systems would improve the timeliness, and likelihood, of detecting emerging zoonotic risks, and contextualize risk assessments to the unique human-wildlife relationships present in northern biomes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY