The authors examined 36 animal markets in the United States, including dog breeding, hunting and trapping, animal auctions, backyard chicken farming and petting zoos. To assess how much risk each industry poses, they conducted interviews with experts and reviewed scientific papers, publicly available data, government regulations and more. For each industry, they considered 10 factors, including the number of animals involved, the pathogens they are known to carry and their interactions with people, as well as any relevant practices and biosecurity regulation.
“We just discovered so much that surprised us,” said Dr. Jamieson, beginning with the enormous number of animals used for commercial purposes in the United States. The country produces more than 10 billion animals on land for food each year, including more pigs and poultry, which can harbor and transmit influenza, than almost any other country, Ms. Linder. It is also the world’s leading importer of both livestock and wildlife, the report said. (More than 220 million live wild animals are imported annually.)
The regulatory landscape, however, is “inconsistent and full of loopholes,” Ms. Linder. Inspections of wildlife imports are spotty, and even when they do occur, they focus on enforcing conservation regulations rather than disease, he said. No federal agency claims jurisdiction over mink farms, which have become Covid-19 hot spots, and before the pandemic some states did not know how many of these farms were located within their borders. , the authors note.
The findings show the need for more regulation and better public education, said Dr. Kuchipudi. Many Americans may not realize that some of these industries and practices exist, he said, but “the risk can affect us all.”
The report is just a starting point, the authors said, and key information — including basic data on the size and location of some livestock industries — remains unknown. (People who work in some of these industries failed to respond to the authors’ questions, Ms. Linder said.) The next step, they say, is to fill in some of these data gaps and conduct a more detailed assessment of the most dangerous practices.
“These threats are out there,” said Ms. Linder, “if we turn on the lights and face them or continue to be entertained in the dark.”
