CS4OD: Reproducible Research For Everyone

## **A One Health Approach to Prevent Future Pandemics: Joining Forces to Reduce the Health Risks in the Wildlife Trade**

#### **Kim Gruetzmacher1,2, Kathrin Norda1, Hannah Emde1, Johannes Keil1 , Ulrike Buehler1, and Constanze Riedle1**

1Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); Global Program 'Support to the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade'

2Museum für Naturkunde Berlin; Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research (MfN)

Consensus exists that the COVID-19 pandemic is of zoonotic origin. Most human infectious diseases have a demonstrated origin in non-human animals, and of all emerging human infectious diseases, it is some 75%, the majority of which originated in wildlife, while ecological disruption and unsustainable consumption are the main drivers of pandemic risk. An estimated investment of only 2% over ten years of the current economic losses due to the pandemic would have not only reduced the risk of disease emergence with pandemic potential, but the ancillary benefits to climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation would have also contributed to planetary health. To address one of the major drivers of disease emergence, the German Government launched the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade as an international, interdisciplinary, and inclusive multi-stakeholder platform for knowledge exchange uniting various disciplines along the One Health spectrum. With the participation of national, international, political, and civil society organizations, including Indigenous communities, and research institutions, the Alliance will pool and utilize interdisciplinary information and know-how to work on the Alliance goals: Risk reduction by translating science into policy and contributing to effective interventions, specifically in areas of high biodiversity and stress on land use. The Alliance aims to reduce the risks of zoonotic spillovers by enhancing international and national awareness, policies, and action by narrowing the gap between science and implementation while respecting cultural identity, Indigenous rights, traditional knowledge and practices, and contributing to the conservation of biological diversity. Excerpts of the exchange among the Alliance's membership (currently ~90 member organizations, from small NGOs to intergovernmental organizations and governments) are made publicly available via open access expert talks, events, and publications. With its multi-solving approach, the Alliance offers a communication venue and matchmaking to integrate expertise and evidence to improve awareness and regulation, supporting pilots and disseminating lessons learned among the community and with policymakers. It will catalyze joint action of stakeholders from the fields of biological sciences, ecology, biomedicine, human and animal health, as well as development cooperation and social sciences.

Kim Gruetzmacher1,2, Kathrin Norda1, Hannah Emde1, Johannes Keil1, Ulrike Buehler1, and Constanze Riedle1

1 in Wildlife Trade'Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); Global Program 'Support to the International Alliance against Health Risks

2 Museum für Naturkunde Berlin; Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research (MfN)

#### Introduction


### Methodology


• It catalyzes the joint action of stakeholders from various fields, including but not limited to biological, biomedical and health sciences, ecology, human and veterinary medicine, as well as development cooperation, psychology, and social sciences, in addition to diverse forms of knowledge.

#### Activities

Members of the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade may—in accordance with organizational mandates and supported by the knowledge and networks gained through the Alliance—do a range of things in support of the above-mentioned goals, e.g.:


e.g., by supporting communities at risk, and fill in knowledge gaps on suspected and/or understudied risk factors;


#### Projects


*Some of our members as of March 2022.*

### Results and Discussion


#### Conclusions


#### Acknowledgements

This poster was possible because of the joint work and co-creation process of the Alliance's Incubation Group, consisting of 20 member organizations. See link below for more information.

#### References


#### Mission

The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade is an open, inclusive and collaborative space where stakeholders join forces to better understand and reduce the threat of pathogen spillover from wildlife trade and markets, providing and communicating evidence, and supporting interventions, thereby reducing the risk of future outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics while concurrently improving health, equity, and well-being for all species through a One Health approach.
