Recently, a team of pathogen hunters at Columbia University...conducted a survey of the viruses and bacteria in Manhattan’s rats, the first attempt to use DNA to catalog pathogens in any animal species in New York City [...] Although the scientists examined just 133 rats, they found plenty of pathogens. Some caused food-borne illnesses. Others, like Seoul hantavirus, had never before been found in New York. Others were altogether new to science. — NY Times
New York's notorious rat problem is just one of the many complex human-animal interactions that can lead to disease outbreaks. Ebola, which has decimated West Africa and is now appearing in the US, likely spread to humans from contact with infected primates. Avian flu (H5N1) spreads from contact with contaminated birds, with the most deadly strains for humans likely coming from exposure to infected domesticated birds. Similarly, swine flu comes from contact with pigs. And the bubonic plague, famously thought to have come from rats, is now thought to have spread from fleas carried by said rats.
All this shows that human habitations are actually within a complex mesh of interactions with other non-human agents, many of which pose grave or even fatal health risks. As Dr. Lipkin, director of the rat study, told the NY Times: “I think people are going to have to start paying attention to this.”
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