Data from: the widespread keeping of wild pets in the Neotropics: an overlooked risk for human, livestock, and wildlife health

Zoonoses constitute a major risk to human health. Comprehensive
assessments on the potential emergence of novel disease outbreaks are
essential to ensure the effectiveness of sanitary controls and to
establish mitigating actions. Through a continental-scale survey of rural
human settlements conducted over 13 years in 15 Neotropical countries, we
document the vast extent of poaching to meet the local demand for pets,
resulting in thousands of families living with ca. 275 species of wild
animals without any sanitary controls. Parrots account for ca. 80% of wild
pets, dying mostly from diseases at a average age of one year. This
culturally rooted tradition, which dates back to pre-Columbian times, may
lead to health risks by bringing wild animals prone to carrying parasites
and pathogens into close contact with humans and their exotic pets and
livestock. Although animal pathogens and parasites have been transmitted
to humans for centuries, the current trend of human population growth and
connectivity can increase the risk of zoonotic outbreaks spreading at an
unprecedented pace. Similarly, disease transmission from humans and
poultry to wild animals is also expected to be facilitated via wild pets,
leading to conservation problems. Several studies have highlighted the
risk posed by wildlife city markets for cross-species disease
transmission, ignoring the risk associated with widespread pet ownership
of wild animals poached locally in rural areas. Given its geographic and
social dimensions, a holistic approach is required to reduce this illegal
activity as well as to strengthen health surveillance of seized
individuals and people in close contact with poached pets, which would
benefit both people and wildlife.