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News

(April 13, 2021) "We have not co-evolved with these species," WCS's Dr. Christian Walzer tells podcast host Bill Nye regarding wildlife found in markets, "so we have not had thousands of years to acquire these diseases, build antibodies against them or make them uniquely our own." This gives such novel pathogens in humans greater pandemic potential. Combined with the co-mixing of multiple species and often stressful conditions along market trade chains, these unnatural interfaces between live wildlife, domestic ...

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(April 01, 2021) In our Spring newsletter, the stories remind us that animal, human and environmental health are inextricably linked. Read more about animal pandemics impacting wildlife and livestock, protecting biodiversity for pandemic prevention, domestic dogs and conservation, molecular science discoveries and more:ONE WORLD - ONE HEALTH NEWS: Spring 2021Sign up for our quarterly newsletters here

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(February 17, 2021) "We’re altering environments in ways we don’t really understand or appreciate until we have an event like the COVID-19 pandemic that makes us reassess our relationship with nature." WCS Health Programs' Sarah Olson spoke with The Scientist: Are Climate-Driven Shifts in Bat Diversity to Blame for COVID-19?Image:  © ISTOCK, VONKARA1 

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(February 17, 2021) The WCS Education team recently created a Field Sight story with the WCS Health Program exploring the One World-One Health initiative, engaging students in how diseases spread in wild populations and from wildlife to humans, thinking about how we are interconnected with nature even in urban environments, and considering actions we can take at home to make a difference in global health. The curriculum even includes a "Spillover" game for students to understand how healthy intact ecosystems c...

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(January 05, 2021) Zoonotic diseases occur when harmful germs, like viruses and bacteria, are spread from animals to people, causing illness that can range from mild to deadly. Commercial wildlife markets, at which wildlife are often sold freshly slaughtered, present a major risk for the development and spread of zoonotic diseases. Animal consumption-based food systems have been implicated in the emergence of zoonoses (including HIV, SARS, Ebola virus disease, avian influenza), and mounting evidence indicates subs...

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