U.S.-Based Best Practices at the Nexus of Ecological and Biological Security

The report argues that pandemic prevention must shift from a human-centric biosecurity model to a holistic 'One Health' approach that integrates ecological security. It identifies critical gaps, such as funding silos between human and animal health research and a lack of sociological context in interventions. The document details U.S. agency efforts—including those by the USGS, FWS, and USAID—and proposes a project lifecycle for spillover prevention that emphasizes multidisciplinary teams, community engagement, and standardized data practices. It specifically highlights how deforestation, illicit wildlife trade, and industrial animal husbandry increase spillover risks, and recommends treating conservation as a national security imperative.

• Biological and ecological security fields are currently siloed, which limits the tools used to mitigate spillover and creates information gaps. The report suggests that pathogens should be viewed as an intrinsic part of healthy ecosystems rather than separate adverse events.
• Human-driven ecological disruption, specifically tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation, increases zoonotic spillover risk by eroding barriers between wildlife, humans, and domestic animals.
• Industrial animal husbandry exacerbates biological risks by creating high-density environments with low genetic diversity, which serve as breeding grounds for pathogens to mutate and circulate.
• The illicit wildlife trade increases spillover risk by bringing humans into unprotected contact with wildlife and creating novel assemblages of stressed species in markets.
• Spillover prevention research, such as 'virus hunting' and biological sampling, carries inherent biosafety and biosecurity risks, including potential laboratory-acquired infections and the risk of accidentally precipitating the events they aim to prevent.
• Interventions often fail when they ignore sociological and historical contexts, such as the legacies of colonialism in low- and middle-income countries or the impact of bans on local food security.
• U.S. government efforts to address spillover are distributed across multiple agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service (Zoonotic Disease Initiative), the USGS (North American Bat Program), and USAID (STOP Spillover project).
• The report recommends that conservation and ecosystem restoration be formally recognized as security imperatives to bolster national and global stability.
• Effective spillover prevention requires a shift toward 'bottom-up' participatory approaches that engage local communities in the design and implementation of interventions to ensure buy-in and sustainability.

APA

Lim, Y.-B., Parr, L., Popescu, S., Rezzonico, A., Van Beck, L., & Zarfos, M. R. (2023). U.S.-Based Best Practices at the Nexus of Ecological and Biological Security. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/06/addressing-the-threat-of-disease-spillover/

Chicago

Lim, Yong-Bee, Lillian Parr, Saskia Popescu, Andrea Rezzonico, Lindsay Van Beck, and Michael R. Zarfos. U.S.-Based Best Practices at the Nexus of Ecological and Biological Security. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/06/addressing-the-threat-of-disease-spillover/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lim |first1=Yong-Bee |last2=Parr |first2=Lillian |last3=Popescu |first3=Saskia |last4=Rezzonico |first4=Andrea |last5=Van Beck |first5=Lindsay |last6=Zarfos |first6=Michael R. |title=U.S.-Based Best Practices at the Nexus of Ecological and Biological Security |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=6 November 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/06/addressing-the-threat-of-disease-spillover/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lim2023usbased, author = {Lim, Yong-Bee and Parr, Lillian and Popescu, Saskia and Rezzonico, Andrea and Van Beck, Lindsay and Zarfos, Michael R.}, title = {{U.S.-Based Best Practices at the Nexus of Ecological and Biological Security}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/06/addressing-the-threat-of-disease-spillover/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }