Thu, Aug 05, 2021: 9:30 AM-10:30 AM
Session Organizer:
Maureen Kessler
Moderator:
Raina Plowright
Volunteer:
Mahugnon Gilles Renaud ADOUNKE
Individual movements and population connectivity determine the spatiotemporal dispersal of human and animal pathogens and the spillover of wildlife pathogens to humans or domestic animals. Use of animal movement ecology and human mobility science to understand linkages between disease processes and movement have advanced largely in parallel. However, human activity has all but removed the spatial and temporal barriers that historically separated places, populations, and species. The human footprint is also changing animal movements globally on scales from foraging movements to migrations. An interdisciplinary approach is critically needed to understand the vital connection between host movement and disease processes, and how to integrate human-wildlife approaches to these questions in a rapidly changing world.
This dynamic session will use discussion-based exchange to explore how movement is integrated into studies of infectious disease spillover and transmission in humans and wildlife. Speakers will use 3-5 minute talks (30 minutes) to introduce overarching questions or key ideas followed by structured group discussion (30 minutes). We will compare fundamental differences in human and wildlife study of host movement and the potential benefits of an integrated human-wildlife approach, exploring topics like the importance of spatial scale, different data streams, and the causes and consequences of altered host movement patterns. Following the session, organizers will engage interested participants in a peer-reviewed synthesis of the session topics. Such a paper will help bridge a gap between human and wildlife researchers, improving the way we study host movement and infectious disease introduction, dispersal, and maintenance in all populations.