Zoonotic diseases are those transmitted from animals to humans and can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogenic agents. In recent years, there has been a greater incidence of zoonoses around the world, especially in emerging nations REF. The relationship between these places and zoonoses is mainly due to the growing number of activities such as deforestation and the exploitation of natural resources in their territories. Against this backdrop, human contact with wild and exotic animal species has intensified, which, without proper health care, has led to an increase in the number of cases of individuals suffering from zoonoses. In addition, with the wealth of new pathogens and their strains, there is a great capacity for adaptation and an increased risk of contamination by zoonoses.
Looking at the national scenario, the North and Midwest regions, such as Pará, Rondônia, Amazonas and Mato Grosso, are highly susceptible to an increase in the incidence of zoonoses. In these locations, there is a great economic influence generated by monoculture and large-scale livestock farming, which, together with the advance of neoliberalist policies in the country, has led deforestation to grow above the regional average, at around 2.9% per year. Furthermore, in the first half of 2020, the entire Amazon territory was deforested by 2,544 km², an increase of 24% compared to the first half of 2019. On a shorter time scale, in June 2020 alone the Amazon lost around 822 km² of forest, equivalent to an area twice the size of the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais. This data is totally alarming to conservationists. When you consider the number of individuals of different species of wild animals that used to make up the deforested ecosystem, and which, if they haven't been killed, are migrating ever closer to rural, urban and industrial areas and thus increasing possible society-fauna interactions.
Arboviruses and other diseases transmitted by invertebrates make up an important part of the casuistry of zoonotic diseases diagnosed in the country today, with a major focus on the northern region. Diseases such as trypanosomiasis, or Chagas' disease, even have evidence of a change in epidemiological character as a result of anthropogenic effects on the ecosystems where they used to occur naturally. The same is true of the increase in the incidence of cases of leishmaniasis and yellow fever, transmitted by the straw mosquito, in different Brazilian regions.
In response to the ecological imbalance and the establishment and expansion of human and domestic animal communities in deforested areas, studies indicate that disease vectors may convert from a predominantly zoophilic orientation to an anthropophilic one. If a prospective analysis of national trends is carried out, it can be predicted that numerous diseases will intensify in Brazilian society as a result of the advance of deforestation in the country. o
In conclusion, a positive scenario in this context could be achieved through the implementation of different public policies for the conservation of Brazilian biomes. There should also be an analysis of the organization of an emergency plan in university and research centers, groups of students and qualified professionals who discuss and work on these risks of the advance of these diseases, how deforestation directly affects unique health and how the next generation can be prepared to face the repercussions of current impacts to ensure that we have possibilities to reverse or minimize the impacts caused today by such actions.
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