Geography
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The emergence of zoonotic infections that can develop into pathogens of pandemic potential is a major concern for public health. The risks of emergence and transmission relate to multiple factors that range from land use to human-non-human animal contacts. Livestock agriculture plays a potentially significant role in those risks, shaping landscapes and providing hosts that can act as the source or amplifiers of emergent pathogens. The relative risks will be contingent upon the nature of those systems, with comparisons often made between intensive, indoor, biosecure systems and more extensive, outdoor, insecure systems. Microbiological, ecological and veterinary sciences provide useful entry points in specifying and modelling some of the relative risks. Yet, they often do so with little regard for social science inputs and by making assumptions about social and economic conditions. In this article, we respond to recent analyses of relative risks by raising the importance of social and economic drivers of risk. We chart social science insights and research that materially alter the zoonotic risks associated with livestock production. Our purpose is to emphasize the requirement for full appreciation of the social, economic and political components of zoonotic and pandemic risk.
Publication Title
Royal Society Open Science
Publication Date
7-17-2024
Volume
11
Issue
7
ISSN
2054-5703
DOI
10.1098/rsos.231709
Keywords
agriculture, pandemics, risk, social science
Repository Citation
Hinchcliffe, Stephen; Blanchette, Alex; Chan, Kin Wang (ray); Degeling, Chris; Emel, Jody; Leach, Melissa; Scoones, Ian; and Winter, Michael, "Understanding the roles of economy and society in the relative risks of zoonosis emergence from livestock" (2024). Geography. 989.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_geography/989
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Publisher source must be acknowledged with citation: Hinchliffe, S., Blanchette, A., Chan, K. W., Degeling, C., Emel, J., Leach, M., ... & Winter, M. (2024). Understanding the roles of economy and society in the relative risks of zoonosis emergence from livestock. Royal Society Open Science, 11(7), 231709. Must link to publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231709
