In 100 years, humanity has grown from two to almost eight billion, and at the same time the number of endangered animals and plants has grown.

Hunting, trade, forestry and agriculture and urbanization make people and our domestic animals more and more in contact with wildlife and the disease viruses they carry. The corona virus that has now paralyzed the world is just one in a row.

Researchers at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in the United States have investigated in a study from which animals 142 different virus infections that affected humans come.

Pets are most at risk of infection

Pets and pets account for the largest proportion, eight times more than wild animals, and then come animals that thrive in humans, such as rodents, bats and monkeys.

Of the endangered species that spread known infections, the animals that decrease due to hunting, trade and deforestation were twice as many as those that decrease for other reasons.

The people who try to rescue these endangered animals also pose an increased risk of infection between species, the researchers note.

Intensive animal breeding is behind it

In another study, British researchers have studied the genetic evolution of the campylobacter jejuni bacterium, which causes severe gastric infections in one of seven people when they eat infected meat from chicken, pigs and cows, but also from wild animals. This bacterium produces many more cases annually than E. coli, salmonella and listeria together.

The researchers note that overuse of antibiotics during breeding increases the risk of transmitting diseases to humans. In addition, it helps to keep many animals that are closely related to one another on a small surface.

See the entire report in the Science world “The road out of corona” on May 11 in SVT2 and on SVTplay.