Land use-induced spillover (IMAGE)
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The authors state that human activities that destroy and degrade ecological systems can trigger land use-induced spillover--the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade. Wildlife stressed by the environmental conditions associated with land use change can decline in immune function, thus becoming more susceptible to zoonotic pathogen infection. Stress can also increase the likelihood that wildlife will release (shed) pathogens in ways and locations that lead to the infection of other animals of the same or different species, including humans (spillover). When land use change increases interaction between infected animals and people, it is more likely that zoonotic pathogens will be transmitted into human populations. The rate and scale of pathogen spread in human populations is largely driven by patterns of human contact (social behaviour) and pathogen biology.
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