Future research needs
Although our results align with many of the recognized geographic
hotspots and taxonomic risks, our study shows that reports on
human-wildlife interactions are lacking for certain geographic regions
and taxonomic groups that are important for zoonotic disease risk. Our
search found minimal publications reporting human-wildlife interactions
in northern Africa, northern South America, central Asia, and
southwestern Asia. While some of these may be due to few human-wildlife
interactions, such as northern Africa where the Sahara Desert
predominates, other areas have been implicated in disease emergence
events (Han et al. 2016). For example, the bubonic plague-causing
bacterium, Yersinia pestis , most likely emerged from the steppes
of central Asia in modern-day Kyrgyzstan several hundred years ago
(Spyrou et al. 2022). More
recently, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) emerged
simultaneously in several countries within southwestern Asia
(Raj et al. 2014). While less
commonly reported than other parts of the world, EID outbreaks are known
to occur in these regions, and our results show that these areas may
suffer from research bias and warrant targeted investigation of
human-wildlife interactions (Jones et al. 2008). Additionally, the
concentrated effects of LUC, human population growth, and climate change
are altering the landscapes of these regions, and likely increase
opportunities for human-wildlife interactions in rapidly changing
environments (Naboureh et al.
2020, Zittis et al. 2022).
While further research on better-known mammalian orders will continue to
be beneficial, increased pathogen surveillance efforts on
underrepresented orders that commonly interact with humans in areas of
LUC, such as carnivores and even-toed ungulates, are particularly
warranted. In contrast, of the many wildlife orders reported to have
interactions with humans and domesticated animals that are focal taxa
for zoonotic disease research (Olival et al. 2017), bats (order:
Chiroptera), which carry numerous zoonotic pathogens, are infrequently
reported in the literature compared to other mammalian orders. This
trend likely demonstrates a reporting bias and highlights the need for
hypothesis-driven research to understand the nuances of interactions
between bats, humans, and domestic animals, especially within a disease
transmission framework. Understanding the frequency, types of
interactions, and location of these interactions is integral to
developing zoonotic disease transmission models for numerous bat-borne
zoonotic pathogens, as well as mitigating human-bat conflict and cross
species pathogen transmission (Plowright et al. 2017, Plowright and
Hudson 2021).
Birds and reptiles were commonly documented interacting with humans and
domestic animals, most often through indirect and direct contact,
respectively. Such interactions are opportunities for zoonotic pathogen
spillover and warrant efforts to understand the zoonotic disease
potential of these taxa. Zoonotic pathogen exposure potential from birds
is high given their proximity to humans and poultry livestock and their
heavy use of human-dominated landscapes, which is reflected in our
results and previous literature (Webster et al. 1992, Marzluff 2001,
Gilbert et al. 2008, Phillippon et al. 2020). Reptiles, on the other
hand, often host bacteria and parasites with zoonotic potential,
requiring ingestion to be transmitted to humans (Harris et al. 2009,
Patrick et al. 2013, Cantlay et al. 2017). Therefore, reptiles most
likely pose disease risks through direct interactions, like human
consumption, which was the most common type of human-reptile interaction
found in our study (Wang et al. 2011,
Cantlay et al. 2017,
Perez-Flores et al. 2017,
Yudhana et al. 2019). With human
population growth a key driver of LUC, it seems likely that pressure on
reptiles as a food source will continue to grow, facilitating increased
reptile-borne food illnesses
(Broglia and Kapel 2011,
Martin et al. 2021). Further
scrutiny of zoonotic pathogens hosted by reptiles is needed to
understand the dangers of these increased interactions.
Ultimately, our study provides a unique summary of human-wildlife
interactions occurring in areas of LUC and evaluates their potential for
zoonotic disease spillover. The
information from this scoping review provides evidence that interactions
with multiple orders of wildlife in areas of agriculturalization,
especially in Africa and Asia, are commonly reported across the
literature and warrant efforts to mitigate exposure. Further, wildlife
species within Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Primates, and Rodentia are
frequently reported interacting with humans and domestic animals and
require additional and continued scrutiny as hosts for zoonotic
pathogens. There are also noticeable gaps in reported human-wildlife
interactions, largely in areas of northern Africa, northern South
America, central Asia, and southwestern Asia. The history of zoonotic
disease emergence, increasing human populations, and rates of LUC in
these regions necessitates further research. Lastly, taxa known to pose
risks for zoonotic disease transmission, like bats, require more
research focus to understand the nature of their interactions with
humans. Information provided by closing these gaps will inevitably
benefit efforts to predict and mitigate the emergence of zoonotic
diseases in human populations.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Matthew Moran and Dr. Devin Jones for assistance developing
the search strategy and data extraction methods, respectively. We thank
Dr. Ellery Lassiter for assistance with statistical analysis. This
research was supported by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute and NSF DEB
1911925.
Author Contributions
RTJ, TJL, and KMF formulated the review idea. RTJ, MRM, and KMF
developed the search strategy. RTJ performed the literature search and
data extraction. RTJ, TLJ, and NM performed data analysis. RTJ wrote the
original draft. All co-authors contributed to editing, approved the
final version, and agree to be held accountable for the work.
Data Accessibility
All data will be made accessible on Dryad pending acceptance for
publication.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
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Figure legends: