By constantly transporting skins, trophies, exotic birds, and new pets from one continent to another, we end up carrying more than just safari souvenirs. A study conducted by ecologist Jérôme Gippet at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) links the legal international trade in wild animals to an increased risk of pathogen transmission to humans.
The mechanism itself is not mysterious: capture, transport, resale, often in conditions that bring animals and humans closer together, with close proximity and stress as a result, an ideal cocktail for circulating viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi between species.
Forty years of data, a disturbing finding
Forty years of data, a disturbing finding. The figure hits like an alarm bell, one we'd rather leave ringing in the distance: 41% of commercially traded mammals share at least one pathogen with humans, according to this compilation of four decades of data related to global trade. Researchers also note a link between the time spent on the market and the number of common pathogens identified, as if the display were ultimately becoming a microbial waiting room.
Examples abound, from Ebola to salmonella linked to certain reptiles, not to mention avian flu, and even cases of monkeypox that appeared in 2003 in the United States after the purchase of wild rodents. International organizations are promoting the "One Health" approach, while the researcher calls for stricter controls on a trade deemed insufficiently monitored, against the backdrop of a smaller but potentially riskier illegal trade, and the persistent feeling that the globalization of life always comes at a price.
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