Wildlife trade, pandemics and the law: fighting this year's virus with last year's law

This work describes the interactions between the trade in animals, regulations and the incidence of zoonoses, with emphasis on the current COVID-19 pandemic. The specific topics include the involvement of the World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health, CITES and other international organizations;national law assessments on animal health, animal welfare, animal quarantine, CITES implementing laws, customs, food safety, indigenous rights, meat industry, pet trade and wildlife conservation and trade;areas of concern;future opportunities and the next steps to be undertaken. This paper is the follow-up to a brief survey of legislation conducted by Legal Atlas in June 2020 regarding the existing legal approaches to controlling zoonotic disease risk in the context of wildlife trade.

Opportunities for Transdisciplinary Science to Mitigate Biosecurity Risks From the Intersectionality of Illegal Wildlife Trade With Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens

Existing collaborations among public health practitioners, veterinarians, and ecologists do not sufficiently consider illegal wildlife trade in their surveillance, biosafety, and security (SB&S) efforts even though the risks to health and biodiversity from these threats are significant. We highlight multiple cases to illustrate the risks posed by existing gaps in understanding the intersectionality of the illegal wildlife trade and zoonotic disease transmission. We argue for more integrative science in support of decision-making using the One Health approach. Opportunities abound to apply transdisciplinary science to sustainable wildlife trade policy and programming, such as combining on-the-ground monitoring of health, environmental, and social conditions with an understanding of the operational and spatial dynamics of illicit wildlife trade. We advocate for (1) a surveillance sample management system for enhanced diagnostic efficiency in collaboration with diverse and local partners that can help establish new or link existing surveillance networks, outbreak analysis, and risk mitigation strategies;(2) novel analytical tools and decision support models that can enhance self-directed local livelihoods by addressing monitoring, detection, prevention, interdiction, and remediation;(3) enhanced capacity to promote joint SB&S efforts that can encourage improved human and animal health, timely reporting, emerging disease detection, and outbreak response;and, (4) enhanced monitoring of illicit wildlife trade and supply chains across the heterogeneous context within which they occur. By integrating more diverse scientific disciplines, and their respective scientists with indigenous people and local community insight and risk assessment data, we can help promote a more sustainable and equitable wildlife trade. © Copyright © 2021 Aguirre, Gore, Kammer-Kerwick, Curtin, Heyns, Preiser and Shelley.