Beyond Boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being

The document analyzes the drivers of zoonotic disease emergence, emphasizing the role of human-animal-environment interfaces. It identifies land-use change, agricultural intensification, and wildlife trade as primary direct drivers that increase human exposure to pathogens. The brief proposes a systems approach to identify leverage points for intervention, such as regulating high-risk wildlife taxa in markets and re-engineering food supply chains, while warning against rushed interventions that could undermine food security or drive illegal trade. It also examines the role of climate change in expanding the range of endemic diseases and explores future scenarios for human health and conservation.

• Zoonotic diseases account for a significant majority of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), with 60% to 76% of recent novel EID events originating from animals, and 72% of those specifically from wildlife.
• Land-use change is a primary driver of zoonotic emergence, contributing to nearly half of all human zoonotic emergence events between 1940 and 2005. The risk of spillover is projected to be highest at intermediate levels of habitat conversion.
• The intensification of agriculture and livestock production increases the likelihood of spillover by bringing humans and livestock into closer proximity to wildlife and potential pathogens. Pigs are noted as particularly concerning 'mixing vessels' for human and bird influenza viruses.
• Wildlife trade and consumption are direct drivers of zoonotic EIDs. High-risk taxonomic groups include rodents, bats, shrews, primates, carnivores, and ungulates. Permanent live animal markets are identified as high-risk areas for viral amplification and cross-species transmission.
• Climate change is strongly evidenced to increase the incidence of endemic zoonotic diseases by expanding their geographic ranges, such as Lyme disease, malaria, and dengue fever. However, evidence regarding its influence on the emergence of novel zoonotic EIDs is more limited.
• The document identifies seven key leverage points for conservation interventions: regulating high-risk taxa in live animal markets, reducing consumption of high-risk taxa, strengthening early warning systems, re-engineering production systems, strengthening public trust in institutions, fostering transparency/evidence-informed policy, and re-examining conservation interventions through a zoonotic lens.
• Rushed or poorly designed interventions carry significant risks, including the creation of hard-to-monitor illegal wild meat trades, acceleration of land conversion for livestock, and adverse impacts on the food security of marginalized communities who rely on wild meat for 60%–80% of their daily protein.
• Zoonotic diseases also impact wildlife and ecosystems; for example, Ebola outbreaks in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1997 and 2004 caused death rates of up to 97% in some gorilla and primate groups.

APA

Shaw, R., Anderson, C., Fabricius, C., Glew, L., Loken, B., Mahajan, S., Olwero, N., Opperman, J., Pacheco, P., Pendleton, L., Thau, D., & Weber, C. (2020). Beyond Boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/2434/WWF_Internal_Science_Brief_Beyond_Boundaries_5_XbOrZtQ.14.20.pdf

Chicago

Shaw, Rebecca, Christa Anderson, Christo Fabricius, Louise Glew, Brent Loken, Shauna Mahajan, Nasser Olwero, et al. Beyond Boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being. WWF International, 2020. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/2434/WWF_Internal_Science_Brief_Beyond_Boundaries_5_XbOrZtQ.14.20.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shaw |first1=Rebecca |last2=Anderson |first2=Christa |last3=Fabricius |first3=Christo |last4=Glew |first4=Louise |last5=Loken |first5=Brent |last6=Mahajan |first6=Shauna |last7=Olwero |first7=Nasser |last8=Opperman |first8=Jeff |last9=Pacheco |first9=Pablo |display-authors=etal |title=Beyond Boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being |publisher=WWF International |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/2434/WWF_Internal_Science_Brief_Beyond_Boundaries_5_XbOrZtQ.14.20.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shaw2020beyond, author = {Shaw, Rebecca and Anderson, Christa and Fabricius, Christo and Glew, Louise and Loken, Brent and Mahajan, Shauna and Olwero, Nasser and Opperman, Jeff and Pacheco, Pablo and Pendleton, Linwood and Thau, Dave and Weber, Chris}, title = {{Beyond Boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/2434/WWF_Internal_Science_Brief_Beyond_Boundaries_5_XbOrZtQ.14.20.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }