THE EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION RATES ON THE FREQUENCY OF ZOONOTIC DISEASE OUTBREAKS

Zoonotic diseases, which account for over 60% of emerging infectious diseases globally, represent a growing public health threat intensified by anthropogenic environmental changes. This study examines the relationship between deforestation rates and the frequency of zoonotic disease outbreaks, investigating the mechanisms through which forest loss facilitates pathogen spillover from wildlife to human populations. Through a systematic review of literature from 2020 to 2026, combined with spatial analysis of outbreak data and forest cover change across high-risk regions, this research demonstrates that deforestation significantly increases zoonotic outbreak frequency, with effects varying by pathogen type and ecological context. The findings reveal that bats, rodents, and primates serve as primary zoonotic reservoirs in deforested landscapes, with viruses and vector-borne pathogens showing the strongest associations with forest loss. Notably, outbreaks occur most frequently at intermediate levels of deforestation, where edge effects maximize human-wildlife contact while reservoir species populations remain viable. The study identifies a 6.31% increase in malaria cases per 1% increase in deforestation in the Amazon, and documents strong associations between forest fragmentation and Ebola, Nipah, and Lyme disease emergence. These results support the dilution effect hypothesis while revealing that biodiversity loss through deforestation disrupts natural disease regulation mechanisms. The research concludes that deforestation acts as a critical driver of zoonotic disease emergence through multiple pathways: habitat fragmentation forcing wildlife into closer proximity with humans, biodiversity loss eliminating disease-buffering species, and ecological stress increasing pathogen shedding in reservoir populations. Recommendations emphasize integrating One Health approaches into land-use policy, prioritizing forest conservation as a public health intervention, and establishing surveillance systems at deforestation frontiers.
Keywords: Deforestation, zoonotic diseases, disease emergence, land-use change, biodiversity loss, spillover, One Health, forest fragmentation, emerging infectious diseases