THE WILDLIFE trade significantly increases the likelihood of pathogen transmission between animals and humans, with risk rising the longer a species is involved in trade networks, according to new research.
Wildlife Trade Strongly Linked to Rising Zoonotic Disease Risk
The findings highlight how sustained human–animal contact in commercial wildlife systems may contribute to the emergence of infectious diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential.
Wildlife trade encompasses a wide range of activities, including capture, breeding, transport, market sale, and end use. Each stage creates repeated and close contact between humans and wild animals, increasing opportunities for cross-species transmission of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.
Higher Pathogen Sharing in Traded Species
Analysing data from more than 2,000 mammal species, researchers found that 41% of traded species share at least one pathogen with humans, compared with just 6.4% of non-traded species. Overall, traded mammals were around 1.5 times more likely to act as zoonotic hosts, even after accounting for ecological and research-related factors.
Species sold live in markets and those involved in illegal trade showed even greater pathogen sharing, suggesting that intensity and conditions of contact play a key role in disease emergence risk.
Time in Trade Increases Disease Risk
A key finding was the cumulative effect of time spent in the wildlife trade. Across 40 years of data, researchers observed that each decade a species remained in global trade was associated with approximately one additional pathogen shared with humans.
This pattern was consistent across hundreds of mammal species tracked through international trade records, reinforcing the idea that prolonged exposure increases zoonotic risk over time.
Implications for Public Health and Regulation
The study highlights that zoonotic spillover is not a rare or random event, but a predictable consequence of sustained wildlife–human interaction within trade systems. Live-animal markets and illegal wildlife trade appear to further amplify this risk by increasing contact intensity and reducing biosecurity controls.
For public health authorities, the findings underscore the importance of strengthening surveillance systems and incorporating zoonotic risk assessments into wildlife trade regulation. Targeted monitoring of high-risk species and trade routes could help reduce the likelihood of future outbreaks.
Overall, the evidence suggests that managing the wildlife trade more strictly may be a critical step in reducing the emergence of new infectious diseases and preventing future pandemics.
Reference
Gippet JMW et al. Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years. Science. 2026;392(6794):178-82.
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