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What is causing the latest outbreak of Ebola in Uganda?

In light of the most recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda (over the past month), many people are experiencing a sense of déjà vu. The rapacious destruction of rainforests for palm oil, soy, meat and dairy by multinational corporations is deeply linked to the spread of infectious zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola. These diseases are becoming more and more commonplace with the destruction of the environment and growth of animal agriculture. This has enormous implications for human #health, food security, animal conservation and planetary health. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Deforestation Allows for Deadly Viruses to Jump Species

Many pandemics originate from wildlife that jumps from animal to human. These leaps often happen at the edges of the world’s tropical forests, where #deforestation is increasingly bringing people into contact with animals’ natural habitats. Yellow fever, #malaria, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, #Ebola – all of these pathogens have spilled over from one species to another at the margins of forests. This has many scientists concerned. The next pandemic is likely to originate from either the rainforest, meat or dairy agriculture where humans have most contact with animals.

Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are one of humanity’s closest living relatives and the most widespread of all great apes, with a vast historical range stretching across 21 African countries. Despite this, they are now classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List due to catastrophic declines of more than 50% over a 75-year period, from 1975 to a projected 2050. These losses are driven by a lethal cocktail of threats: rampant poaching, habitat destruction for palm oil and logging, industrial mining, disease outbreaks like Ebola, and illegal trafficking. Subspecies such as P. t. ellioti have been reduced to only a few thousand individuals, while the once widespread P. t. verus is now Critically Endangered. Protecting them means dismantling the extractive industries that are ripping Africa’s forests apart such as the meat industry and palm oil industry. Help them when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife and be #Vegan #BoycottMeat

How our food choices cut into forests and put us closer to viruses

As the global population has doubled to 7.8 billion in about 50 years, industrial agriculture has increased the output from fields and farms to feed humanity. One of the negative outcomes of this transformation has been the extreme simplification of ecological systems, with complex multi-functional landscapes converted to vast swaths of monocultures that lack the complexity of biodiversity found in tropical rainforests. Industrial agriculture is the biggest threat to rare wild animals and rare wild plants in the world. Fight back and resist extinction every time you shop – be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife