The health of humans, animals, and the environment are closely intertwined—human health in particular heavily depends on the health of the others.

In China, the outbreak of the African Swine Fever is expected to result in a 27% drop in the production of pigmeat, the country’s most consumed meat product.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have called for countries to suspend sales of live wild mammals in traditional food markets, also known as “wet markets”, in efforts to prevent the emergence of new deadly diseases, such as COVID-19.

COVID-19 has caused profound damage to human health, societies and economies in every corner of the world. This illness is zoonotic, a type of disease that transmits between animals and humans. It may be the worst, but it is not the first.

While the world continues to grapple with the devastating consequences of coronavirus, leading conservationist organisation WWF has called for urgent global action to address the key drivers which will cause future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

Exotic wild animals are being smuggled into Japan and once past Customs border controls, continue to be legally sold as pets finds a new TRAFFIC report, Crossing the red line: Japan’s exotic pet trade. The study also highlights the potential for the exotic pet trade to facilitate the transmission of zoonotic diseases.