Clearing forests makes room for farms – and disease outbreaks

Farmers need land to grow their crops, and in many parts of the world, that means clearing forests. That’s especially true in the Amazon region in South America. Crops just won’t grow under the thick forest canopy, so a new banana plantation means clearing trees. This has all sorts of effects on the ecosystem and researchers are seeing a new one.

A virus called Oropouche was identified back in the 1950s, but it was pretty rare. Like so many viruses, it causes headaches, body aches, fever, and other unpleasant symptoms. What’s most unusual about Oropouche is that it’s most often carried by midges – small, biting flies, more difficult to see than mosquitoes. All of a sudden, Oropouche has started spreading and infecting more people than ever before and it has been detected in new countries. The virus has also started to kill people in Brazil and there’s some evidence it may affect the fetuses of pregnant women.

So what’s going on? Dr. Daniel Romero-Alvarez has an idea. He’s found Oropouche appears in places where forests have been cleared. The change in land use may be making new and better places for the midges that spread the virus to breed, he says. “Midges loves banana and cocoa plantations,” adds Romero-Alvarez, a medical doctor and epidemiologist at Universidad Internacional SEK in Quito, Ecuador. And the movement of humans and other animals that can carry this virus means that we may be hearing more about Oropouche in the future. Listen as he tells One World, One Health what he’s learned about this once-rare virus.

Guest

Dr. Daniel Romero-Alvarez is a medical doctor (MD) and doctor of philosophy (PhD) in the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, working as an associate professor at the Universidad Internacional SEK, Quito, Ecuador. His research crosses multiple disciplines and sectors from molecular diagnosis of zoonotic bacteria (e.g., leprosy in armadillos) to distributional ecology of diseases such as anthrax or Oropouche fever. Daniel is interested in wildlife and zoonotic diseases, open access, and scientific outreach. Check out his personal website to follow his research initiatives and resources in Spanish and English on his website: www.romerostories.com