Wildlife Trade Linked to 41% of Human Pathogens

0:00It's April 9th. This is Sydney News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. New research drops a bombshell on the wildlife trade, both legal and shady. Out of 2,079 mammal species swapped worldwide, 41% carry pathogens that can jump to humans. That's way higher than the 6.4% in non-traded species. This science journal study flags it as a major public health red flag. The team crunched data from as far back as 1975, linking it to the biggest mammal pathogen database. They found traded animals pick up one extra human infecting bug for every 10 years on the market. Transmission hits it every step, from catching, to selling, and even keeping its pets. Outbreaks like HIV, Ebola, impacts, and COVID all trace back to traded wildlife. Experts in Australia call the findings remarkable, stressing better surveillance to spot sick animals early. They've logged over 275 zoonotic cases there this year alone, from anthrax to leptospirosis.

1:05Live markets and illegal trades amp up the risks most, but data on local exotic pet scenes stay spotty. Researchers admit gaps and push for wider tracking of pathogens in wild, captive, and farm animals to fill them. Bottom line, the longer we trade wildlife, the more pandemics we invite. Time to tighten bio surveillance and rethink how we mess with nature before the next one hits home.