Effects of Land-Use Changes and Agricultural Practices on the Emergence and Reemergence of Human Viral Diseases

Abstract

© 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Disease emergence is the result of complex multifactorial interactions, requiring pathogens to overcome numerous ecological and evolutionary barriers to switch hosts and establish in human populations. This chapter sheds some light on this complexity by reviewing recent scientific works at the interface between ecological and health sciences. It examines the role of changes to the environment and ecosystems; and agricultural practices, including agricultural expansion and intensification of livestock production. The chapter further examines the related demographic changes, including urbanization, trade, and migration. Environmental changes, such as deforestation and habitat fragmentation, disrupt existing ecosystems and change the physical characteristics of landscape. Agriculture is the largest human use of land and one of the main drivers of ecological changes and environmental modification. Changes in land use have important effects on viral diseases, which can be observed throughout the process of disease emergence, from pathogen exposure to the stages of infection and transmission.