Eating Meat is Major Factor in Rising Zoonotic Diseases, Says New UN Report

The report declares that unsustainable farming and exploitation of wildlife must be urgently addressed, to prevent further outbreaks of animal-to-human viruses.

The global demand for meat consumption, and intensive animal farming, are among the seven major factors responsible for the increasing threat of new zoonotic diseases, warns the United Nations (UN).

COVID-19, Ebola, and MERS, are just some of the recent zoonotic diseases to have passed from animal sources to the human population.  

Now, a new UN report, ‘Preventing the Next Pandemic’, outlines why zoonotic diseases are on the rise, and the ways in which we can help prevent them.

The destruction of the environment - including land degradation, exploitation of wildlife, and resource extraction - is a key factor in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. In particular, the report singles out the increased global demand for animal protein, as well as the rise in intensive farming, as exacerbating the problem. 

“The science is clear that if we keep exploiting wildlife and destroying our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these diseases jumping from animals to humans in the years ahead,” says Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Zoonotic diseases kill around two million people every year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.

Worldwide, the economic impact of zoonotic diseases has caused losses of $100 billion over the past two decades. Some $9 trillion is expected to be lost over the next few years, due to COVID-19 alone.

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