We have always known that some animal diseases can jump species and infect man, but the current figures are startling. Today we know that over 60 per cent of all pathogens that infect humans have their origins in animals, and that the figure rises to 75 per cent for emerging diseases. The worry is that …
Dr. Guy Palmer isn’t kidding when he says he got his start in veterinary medicine doing grunt work at a rabies research lab. The only way to diagnose the deadly virus is to examine an animal’s brain. So Palmer’s job in 1974 was to pick up shipments of dog, skunk and cow heads at the …
It is no longer possible to separate the health of the planet from the health of its people. Disease patterns are changing as the climate does, and human health is at risk from loss of biodiversity, depleted water supplies, environmental toxins, and collapsing food systems. As the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health states: “The …
What does a killer disease have to do to get attention these days? Last year, people watched with horror as Ebola ravaged West Africa and spread fear around the globe. Now it’s the turn of the upstart Zika virus to grab the headlines as an international health emergency. Meanwhile, I’ve just been quietly doing my …