One Health tropical wetlands: a transdisciplinary framework for assessing the risks of emerging zoonotic diseases in the Brazilian Pantanal

• Published in: Wetlands ecology and management 2025-02, Vol.33 (1), p.16, Article 16
• Main Authors: de Oliveira Roque, Fabio, Herrera, Heitor Miraglia, de Andrade, Gisele Braziliano, Johnson, Matthew, Nunes, André Valle, de Oliveira, Alessandra Gutierrez, de Castro Ferreira, Eduardo, Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson, Araujo, Giulia Armani, Santos, Luiz Gustavo R. O., Chiaravalloti, Rafael Morais, de Lucena, Reinaldo Farias Paiva, Libonati, Renata, Wantzen, Karl M., Tasker, Alex, Bowsher, Gemma, Sullivan, Richard, Yon, Lisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic ecosystems; Biological activity; Biological effects; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate change; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Disease; Disease control; Ecosystems; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Food availability; Food supply; Fragmentation; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Global climate; Habitat fragmentation; Habitat loss; Health risks; Human populations; Hydrology/Water Resources; Indigenous peoples; Infectious diseases; Life Sciences; Local communities; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Original Paper; Populations; Risk assessment; Sanitation; Social organization; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Wetlands; Wildlife; Zoonoses
• ISSN: 0923-4861; 1572-9834
• DOI: 10.1007/s11273-025-10031-w

The Pantanal wetland ecosystem of Brazil is experiencing unprecedented local challenges from anthropogenic pressures, as well as from global climate change. These pressures escalate the zoonotic risks from wildlife populations, whose own susceptibility to disease is enhanced by stressors including habitat loss and fragmentation with the resulting decrement in food availability, immunity and resilience in the face of compounding disease risks. This continuous degradation and fragmentation of the ecosystem increases interactions between animals and humans (including indigenous peoples and local communities) further increasing disease risks for the human populations. Weak health systems across the Pantanal are reflected in limited pathogen surveillance, and poor sanitation and disease control measures, serving to further amplify the region’s epidemic and pandemic potential. Using a transdisciplinary One Health (OH) approach to understand the ecological, social and biological drivers of infectious diseases, our research network developed a framework to conceptualise the current tools, evidence and processes for effective research and knowledge production in the Pantanal Wetland ecosystem. Drawing on the expertise of researchers and non-academic key-stakeholders can inform the work of global OH research networks and strengthen the evidence base for OH policy and practice in the Pantanal and other tropical wetland systems.