Wildlife-Borne Disease Fight Requires Military Savvy, Panel Told

The military’s approach to war offers a smart strategy for wildlife agencies to follow to prevent the next animal-borne pandemic, scientists and former government officials told a House panel Tuesday.

Even in peace time, the military is preparing for the next fight, conducting surveillance and gathering intelligence about potential enemies, Christine Kreuder Johnson, professor of epidemiology and ecosystem health at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said.

That’s how the government and country “need to be thinking in terms of preparing for pandemics,” she said during a virtual roundtable hosted by House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

Grijalva inserted language into the House-passed Heroes Act that amends the 120-year-old Lacey Act, the conservation law that prohibits illegal wildlife trade and transport.

The legislation would authorize $111 million for Interior agencies to do more to identify species that could infect humans, in part through emergency listing authority and the creation of a national database for wildlife diseases.

“I see this as a prevention tool for the long haul,” Grijalva said.

‘Minuscule’ Funding

The investment the Heroes Act makes in combating transmission of disease between species are “minuscule” compared to the trillions of dollars Congress has allocated to fight the coronavirus pandemic, said Daniel Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and a former Fish and Wildlife Service director.

Scientists believe the virus originated in a wet market in China where wild animals were suspected of being sold for food. Wet markets sell meat, fish and other perishable goods for consumption.

“Our nation will not just be wagging its rhetorical finger at the wet markets and wildlife consumption traditions of other nations, but will be putting in place a legal framework to clean up our own act,” Ashe said.

While the Senate is unlikely to take up the massive Heroes Act, the language on tracking and combating zoonotic diseases could survive in some way.

New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, the ranking Democrat on the Interior appropriations subcommittee, has said he’ll push for a substantial increase in Interior’s fiscal 2021 budget to combat illegal wildlife trafficking to help prevent future pandemics.