Authors

A Thompson¹;  ¹ Murdoch University, Australia

Discussion

Humans have increasing interaction with wildlife, whether as a result of urbanisation or through activities in their natural environment. This leads to changes in the flow of parasitic infections, with emphasis often on the adverse consequences to the health of humans or domestic animals. However, insufficient attention has been given to how anthropogenic factors expose wildlife to zoonotic infections of ‘domestic’ origin, which may be either endemic or exotic pathogens. The consequences of such spill-back scenarios are uncertain but are likely to have negative impacts on wildlife health as well as possibly establishing new reservoirs of infection for humans and domestic animals. In Australia, Toxoplasma is prevalent in native mammals but rarely associated with disease unless anthropogenic factors come into play. Similarly, species of Trypanosoma although rarely pathogenic in their natural wildlife hosts, have recently been associated with the decline of native fauna . T. cruzi is closely related to species of Australian Trypanosomes and there is concern that introduced T. cruzi could establish infections in Australian marsupials, endangering wildlife health and creating reservoirs of infection. These examples will be discussed in the light of ongoing research that highlights the importance of viewing ‘one-health’ in a truly holistic way.