Examining the role of international trade in wildlife in disease spread

The international trade in wildlife has been hypothesized to play a significant role in the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. The recent outbreaks of West Nile virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola Reston virus, and HIV-2 have all been linked to the wildlife trade and have had serious global health consequences. Through a combination of fieldwork and data acquisition and analysis, we have developed a program to assess the role of the wildlife trade in the spread of infectious diseases that affect humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. In collaboration with key organizations such as TRAFFIC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), we are examining data on shipments of live animals at ports throughout the U.S.A., and sampling imported animals for select diseases to begin to test these hypotheses.  In this talk, I will describe these projects, present some of our results and discuss how they are being used to inform policy on animal import/export regulations.