Zoonotic disease in the face of rapidly changing human-nature interactions in the Anthropocene

ABSTRACT

The landscape of zoonotic diseases has gained renewed interest due to COVID-19 that has gripped the world since the last 1 year. This chapter argues that in the age of humans, called “Anthropocene, " we may have to deal with the challenge of zoonotic diseases that can increase due to increases human managed ecosystems at the expense of intact and wild ecosystems. This expansion of human managed ecosystems is argued to reduce the resilience of these ecosystems, and one additional characteristic can be increased numbers of zoonotic diseases entering human society. In the landscape of scattered and under researched knowledge about entry of zoonotic diseases in the human society, this chapter brings the argument to stimulate debate and stress on more research regarding this issue. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.