"The number of emerging infectious diseases that infect people has more than tripled since the 1940s. Around two-thirds of these are zoonotic, which means that they have spilled over into human populations from animals. The number of emerging diseases is likely to continue to increase, driven by the globalisation of travel and trade, climate change and, of course, urbanisation." Cadhla Firth, Research Scientist and Kurt Zuelke, Director Biosecurity Flagship, both from Australia's top government research organisation, the CSIRO, look at how increasing contact between animal and human populations is increasing the risk of cross-species transmission and highlight the need for more research into how this happens and how we can significantly reduce the impact of emerging infectious diseases:
theconversation.com/urbanis...
While possums and noisy miner birds mentioned in the article may not be a problem outside of Australia, rats, pigeons and mosquitoes definitely are a widespread concern.
Neil
Photo: Contrary to the expectations of many, Australians don't see kangaroos leaping down the main street, though a fight between two males for the favour of a female kangaroo in a suburban street did make the TV news recently. I've often seen this mother and joey around the farm, but it has been a while since the last sighting.
Lab Visit
A Comparison of between Covid-19, a Cold, the Flu, Hay Fever and Asthma plus other Coronavirus updates
