The need to adopt planetary health approach in understanding the potential influence of climate change and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases outbreaks

Elsevier, Public Health in Practice, Volume 2, 2021,100095,
Authors: 
Yusuf Amuda Tajudeen, Iyiola Olatunji Oladunjoye, Aminat Olaitan Adebayo, Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi

Zoonoses, which are diseases that are transmitted naturally from animals to humans, are one of the leading public health threats [1]. Globally, the World Health Organization estimated about 1 billion cases of illness and millions of death per annum from zoonoses, thus a public health concern to the human population [1]. Apparently, only a few existing scientific publications on zoonoses show that climate change and biodiversity loss have a part to play in the incidence and distributions of zoonotic diseases in the human population. Impact of climate change and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases which is evident by shifts in distribution and behavioral changes of vectors and animals’ species contribute to the spread and emergence of zoonotic diseases [2]. Several studies allude to the fact that a common factor in the emergence of zoonotic disease outbreaks is their coincidence with climate change and biodiversity loss. Outbreaks of Chikungunya fever, West Nile fever, Hantavirus, Lyme disease, Lujo virus, and Ebola disease have been linked with climate change and biodiversity loss as shown in reviews by Rajan and colleagues, and Naicker respectively [2,3]. Therefore, understanding the potential effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on the spread of zoonotic diseases, as well as addressing the diverse threats to human health and well-being in today’s world requires a ‘planetary health’ approach.