ONE WORLD - ONE HEALTH Winter 2020

Preventing Pandemics by Ending Commercial Wildlife Trade

Zoonotic diseases occur when harmful germs, like viruses and bacteria, are spread from animals to people, causing illness that can range from mild to deadly. Commercial wildlife markets, at which wildlife are often sold freshly slaughtered, present a major risk for the development and spread of zoonotic diseases. Animal consumption-based food systems have been implicated in the emergence of zoonoses (including HIV, SARS, Ebola virus disease, avian influenza), and mounting evidence indicates substantial human health risks from the trade in live wildlife. WCS recently published research showing that prevalence of coronaviruses in wild rodents in Viet Nam increased along the food supply chain from field rats, to large markets, to restaurants. The study also detected bat and avian coronaviruses in rodent feces. This mixing of coronaviruses, and their amplification along the wildlife supply chain into restaurants, highlights the risk of zoonotic spillover to people through the commercial wildlife trade. As the world contends with the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to shut down this trade has never been more urgent. The U.S. Congress has introduced legislation to help end the commercial wildlife trade for human consumption. You can support this effort: Protect Wildlife Protect Us Read: “We Need Federal Action to Prevent the Next Pandemic” Scientific American Watch: “How to Stop the Next Pandemic” The New York Times Watch: How Wet Markets Help Viruses Pass From Animals to Humans Vice TV

Sharks Signal Healthier Seascapes The presence of sharks in New York waters is a positive sign for our local marine ecosystem. WCS's veterinarians care not only for shark species at the New York aquarium, but also study the health of wild sharks in the New York bight. After approval of COVID safety protocols, the WCS NY Seascape and OCEARCH shark field research resumed, with sand tiger (Carcharias taurus), sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus), dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus), and great white (Carcharodon carcharias) sharks recently caught, examined, health assessments conducted, tagging performed, and sharks released in an expedition you can experience in this short film from NBC: Shark Tale Climate Adaptations on Mount Everest WCS molecular biologist Tracie Seimon joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking Mount Everest Expedition to install weather stations and document biodiversity and adaptations in the face of climate change. They found far more life forms existent on Everest than at other comparable elevations worldwide. Such research is critical to inform us of the state of changing environments in high mountain regions of the world on which many human populations rely; and of the need for humans dwelling in and around these ranges to adapt their land, agricultural practices and lifestyle to adjust to climate driven environmental alterations.   Watch: "Life Is on the Rise" National Geographic

Addressing a Dog Disease in Tigers Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) can cause severe, often fatal disease in domestic, wild terrestrial and marine mammals. It is a major conservation threat in some endangered species, including Amur tigers. WCS recently validated a portable, point-of-care diagnostic test for CDV; a game-changer for monitoring the disease in wildlife in remote, low-resource settings. WCS and partners recently published research that identified other wild carnivores, rather than domestic dogs, as the main reservoir of infection for CDV strains threatening Amur tigers, and found that vaccinating even a small number of tigers against CDV each year could substantially reduce the risk of their extinction. 100 Years of Zoological Veterinary Excellence Since 1902, when its veterinary programs began, WCS has been a pioneer in promoting wildlife health as critical to saving wildlife, wild places, and the people interacting with them. In the fall of 1916, the Bronx Zoo opened its Animal Hospital—arguably the first such facility at a US zoo. Its 2,111 square feet included a surgical room, animal holding areas, a morgue, offices, and a small museum. In a Wild View blog series celebrating WCS' 125 year anniversary, you can learn more about some of the original, truly pioneering zoo veterinarians: A Tradition of Excellent Veterinary Care

In Case You Missed It.... WCS partnered with the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) to co-host a virtual conference on November 17-18, 2020: “One Planet, One Health, One Future: Moving forward in a post-COVID19 world”  Learn more and watch presentations by speakers from around the world HERE

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The Wildlife Conservation Society was among the first zoos in the world to have full time veterinary care for their animals, with a clinician and pathologist hired in 1903 and a zoo animal hospital opening at the Bronx Zoo in 1916. We were also one of the first conservation organizations with a dedicated team of wildlife veterinarians deployed around the world to address the health of free ranging wildlife and problem-solve at the wildlife / domestic animal / human health and livelihoods interface, all underpinned by a foundation of environmental stewardship.  To learn how to support the One World - One Health portfolio at WCS, please contact Dr. Chris Walzer at cwalzer@wcs.org or Dr. Paul Calle at pcalle@wcs.org. Photo Credits: Bamboo rat in trade © Lucy Keatts; Shark sampling © Julie Larsen Maher/ WCS; Mount Everest Expedition Team © Tracie Seimon; Amur tiger © Julie Larsen Maher/WCS; Bronx Zoo's second veterinarian, Dr Charles Noback © Wildlife Conservation Society

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