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13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

Released Monday, 2nd August 2021
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13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld)

Monday, 2nd August 2021
Good episode? Give it some love!
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There is a lot in the media these days about how protecting biodiversity reduces the risk of zoonotic disease spillover, and hence the risk of epidemics and pandemics. There seems to be  a lot of good evidence for this in published studies on the topic, but how universal is such a conclusion? What is the science behind it? What about context? Are there exceptions to the rule? 

Dan Salkeld is a disease ecologist, and professor at Colorado State University. He has been addressing this topic in the literature for years, and shares some of his conclusions with us. We also talk a little more broadly about the trend, in the literature, towards making generic causal links, when the sum of the data show correlations of varying strength, and include exceptions.

03:10: Main factors likely to increase the risk of zoonotic disease spillover
05:08: Relationship between biodiversity and spillover risk; the dilution effect and amplification effect
12:32: The role of scale in spillover
13:55: The state of the debate regarding the links between biodiversity and spillover
18:18: Claims of causation and consensus
22:34: Results that don't get published
26:09: Communicating nuanced messages to the broader public

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