CITES and the Zoonotic Disease Content in International Wildlife Trade

Stefan Borsky,Andrea Leiter,Hannah Hennighausen,Keith Williges

doi:10.1007/s10640-020-00456-7

Stefan Borsky, Andrea Leiter + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00456-7

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Abstract

International trade in wildlife is one contributing factor to zoonotic disease risk. Using descriptive statistics, this paper shows that in the last decades, the volume and pattern of internationally traded wildlife has changed considerably and, with it, the zoonotic pathogens that are traded. In an econometric analysis, we give evidence that an international environmental trade agreement could be used to limit the spread of zoonotic pathogens and disease. More specifically, combining zoonotic disease data with wildlife trade data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife and Fauna (CITES), we show that making trade requirements more stringent leads to a decrease in the number of animals traded and, incidentally, also the number of zoonotic diseases that are traded. Our results contribute to the discussion of policy measures that manage the spread of zoonotic diseases.

Highlights

Infectious diseases have a substantial negative impact on global health and economies (Morens et al 2004)
As we focus on zoonotic disease transmission from terrestrial animals to humans, we obtained information on trade flows of all CITES-listed species in the class mamalia, for the years 1975 to 2019
Our empirical results are based on the structural gravity model developed in Sect. 3 and were estimated using a ppml model as recommended by Silva and Tenreyro (2006)

Summary

Introduction

Infectious diseases have a substantial negative impact on global health and economies (Morens et al 2004). They account for over 7 million annual deaths worldwide and cause economic losses through mortality, treatment costs and lost productivity (Fonkwo 2008; WHO 2018b). Zoonotic diseases are transmitted from animals to humans through behaviors that bring humans into direct or indirect contact with animals and animal products. For example, is spread through direct contact in the form of scratching and biting. Zoonotic diseases can be spread to humans through indirect contact, such as coming into contact with the animal’s living space, and through the consumption of contaminated food and water (Cleaveland et al 2007; CDC 2015)

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