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保育野生動物保育 有助預防新興疾病

2008年02月22日
摘譯自2008年2月20日ENS美國,紐約報導;吳萃慧編譯;蔡麗伶審校

根據一個國際科學家團隊的最新研究,在過去50年間,致命的新興疾病種類大約成長了4倍。科學家們將這些疾病的主要爆發來源以地圖標示方式呈現,他們警告說來自貧窮國家野生動物的新興疾病對人類的威脅最大。

這些疾病散播給身處物種歧異度縮減環境且與當地野生動物有接觸的人類。

瓊斯(Kate Jones)是倫敦動物學會(Zoological Society of London)的演化生物學家,也是這個研究的第一作者。她表示,這項研究迫切地顯示防止進一步入侵高生物歧異度區域的必要性。

她指出:「結果是,保育可能成為預防新興疾病的的一個重要方法」。共同作者李維(Marc Levy)是國際地球科學資訊網絡中心(Center for International Earth Science Information Network)的全球變遷專家,服務於美國哥倫比亞大學地球研究所。他表示:「我們正將野生動物逼進逐漸變小的環境中,而人類族群量還在持續增加。這兩種狀況碰在一起之後將成為某些東西融合的媒介」。

科學家發現這些新興疾病主要來源是哺乳動物。有些病原可能是經由打獵或意外的接觸而感染,其他例如馬來西亞的立百病毒(Malaysia's Nipah virus)則是由野生動物傳給畜養的牲畜,然後再傳給人。

人類過去對於由動物傳給人類的人畜共通疾病(zoonoses)並未演化出抵抗力,因此這些疾病對人類的致命性可能會很高。科學家們表示,在一個地區如果野生物種類越多,就會有越多種病原停泊在該區域。

人類免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)及愛滋病(AIDS)的流行,被認為最早是來自人類與黑猩猩的接觸,這種疾病已經造成超過6500萬個感染案例;最近爆發的嚴重急性呼吸症候群(SARS)則來自中國的蝙蝠,並且已經造成超過1000億美元的損失。像非洲依波拉病毒(African ebola virus)的爆發規模一向很小,但是致命性卻非常高。儘管有30年的研究成果,研究卻仍無法成功解釋這些疾病看似隨機產生的狀況。

在這個新研究裡,研究者來自4個研究單位,分析了1940至2004年爆發的335個新興疾病,然後將分析結果轉換至有人類族群密度、族群改變狀況、緯度、降雨量及野生動物歧異度的地圖。

這些疾病有60%的種類會從動物傳染給人類,而且大多數疾病來自野生動物。調整了較窮國家所做調查較少的狀況,熱門爆發地點顯示在撒哈拉以南非洲、印度及中國,而較小爆發規模者落在歐洲及南北美洲。

Conservation of Wildlife May Prevent Emerging Diseases
NEW YORK, New York, February 20, 2008 (ENS)

Deadly emerging diseases have roughly quadrupled over the past 50 years, according to new research by an international team of scientists who have mapped the outbreaks' main sources. New diseases originating from wild animals in poor countries are the greatest threat to humans, the scientists warn.

These diseases spread to humans who move into shrinking pockets of biodiversity and have contacts with wildlife there.

Kate Jones, an evolutionary biologist at the Zoological Society of London and first author of the study, said the work urgently highlights the need to prevent further intrusion into areas of high biodiversity.

"It turns out that conservation may be an important means of preventing new diseases," she said.

"We are crowding wildlife into ever smaller areas, and human population is increasing," said coauthor Marc Levy, a global change expert at the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, an affiliate of Columbia University's Earth Institute. "The meeting of these two things is a recipe for something crossing over."

The main sources of these emerging diseases are mammals, the scientists have learned. Some pathogens may be picked up by hunting or accidental contact. Others, such as Malaysia's Nipah virus, go from wildlife to livestock and then to people.

Humans have evolved no resistance to diseases that move from animals to humans, called zoonoses, so these diseases can be extraordinarily lethal. The scientists say that the more wild species in an area, the more varieties of pathogens they may harbor.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic, thought to have started from human contact with chimpanzees, has led to over 65 million infections; recent outbreaks of SARS originating in Chinese bats have cost up to $100 billion. Outbreaks like the African ebola virus have been small, but deadly.

Despite three decades of research, previous attempts to explain these seemingly random emergences have been unsuccessful.

In the new study, researchers from four institutions analyzed 335 emerging diseases from 1940 to 2004, then converted the results into maps correlated with human population density, population changes, latitude, rainfall and wildlife biodiversity.

Some 60 percent of the diseases traveled from animals to humans and the majority of those came from wild animals. With data corrected for lesser surveillance done in poorer countries, "hot spots" jump out in areas spanning sub-Saharan Africa, India and China; smaller spots appear in Europe, and North and South America.

全文及圖片詳見:ENS

作者

蔡麗伶(LiLing Barricman)

In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.