Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Why deforestation and extinctions make pandemics more likely

Researchers are redoubling efforts to understand links between biodiversity and emerging diseases — and use that information to predict and stop future outbreaks.
  1. Jeff Tollefson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

As humans diminish biodiversity by cutting down forests and building more infrastructure, they’re increasing the risk of disease pandemics such as COVID-19. Many ecologists have long suspected this, but a new study helps to reveal why: while some species are going extinct, those that tend to survive and thrive — rats and bats, for instance — are more likely to host potentially dangerous pathogens that can make the jump to humans.

Access options

Nature 584, 175-176 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02341-1

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 07 August 2020: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ibrahima Socé Fall is head of the World Health Organization’s emergency operations in Africa. In fact, he is responsible for the WHO’s emergency operations worldwide and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

References

  1. Gibb, R. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2562-8 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Dobson, A. P. et al. Science 369, 379–381 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Jones, K. E. et al. Nature 451, 990–993 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Smith, K. F. et al. J. R. Soc. Interface 11, 20140950 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bloomfield, L. S. P., McIntosh, T. L. & Lambin, E. Landscape Ecol. 35, 985–1000 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Faust, C. L. et al. Ecol. Lett. 21, 471–483 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Redding, D. W. et al. Nature Commun. 10, 4531 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links