Understanding disease spill-over from wildlife to improve public health

A research team led by UCL's Professor Kate Jones from the Division of Biosciences and the Institute of Zoology have identified what drives transfer of diseases from wildlife to people.

Synopsis

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As exemplified by the current COVID-19 global pandemic, the health and economic consequences of spill-overs of wildlife diseases into human populations can be devastating. Research carried out by scientists at the University College London (UCL) and the Institute of Zoology (IoZ) has improved the understanding of how ecological, epidemiological and socioeconomic factors interact to drive spill-overs of these ‘zoonotic’ diseases into humans. The research has informed global zoonotic disease research funding priorities, for example guiding wildlife disease surveillance efforts (USAID’s PREDICT programme); international policy priorities through the United Nations (UN), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF); and public health responses to disease outbreaks through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), as well as improving public understanding of links between the extinction and climate crises on zoonotic disease spill-over risk.

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