Hotspots of zoonotic disease risk from wildlife hunting and trade in the tropics

Abstract

Wildlife hunting and trade creates numerous direct human–animal contact opportunities that can facilitate transmission of zoonotic diseases pantropically. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge of which species and areas have a high risk of zoonotic disease spillover due to wildlife hunting and trade. We combined maps of hunting pressure, recent data sets on human-shared pathogens, and trade volumes for 614 mammalian host species to map zoonotic disease risk from wildlife hunting and trade pantropically. We also assessed the relationship between zoonotic disease risk from hunting and probability of emerging zoonotic diseases using generalised least square regression. We identified hotspots of zoonotic disease risk from hunting in central America, China, and central Africa. When considering wildlife trade frequency, high risk occurs in southern Africa and China. Zoonotic disease risk from wildlife hunting aligns significantly with the risk of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases, suggesting that hunting is a key driver of zoonotic disease outbreaks of pandemic potential. Interventions that regulate the hunting of host species and considers the socioeconomic motivations behind hunting could reduce the risk of zoonotic disease spillover.