One Health at the Wild–Domestic–Human Interface: Mammal Disease Ecology under Environmental Change

Of all the animals that share our world, mammals stand closest to us — biologically, evolutionarily, and increasingly in physical space. It is no coincidence that the great majority of infectious diseases to have crossed into humans in recent decades have originated in other mammalian species. Shared receptor biology, conserved immune pathways, and overlapping ecological niches make mammals uniquely capable of harboring pathogens that can infect people. Viral spillover events such as Ebola offer the most visible reminder of this, but the same biological proximity underlies a far broader spectrum of transmission — from vector-borne and bacterial diseases to parasitic and helminthic infections which cycle through wildlife, livestock, and human communities alike.What is changing is the ecological context in which these transfers occur. Deforestation, agricultural expansion, urban growth, and climate change are eroding the buffer zones that once separated reservoir hosts from human populations. Wildlife is being pushed into fragmented, human-dominated landscapes; vectors are expanding into new climatic ranges; and livestock are increasingly sharing space — and pathogens — with wild mammal communities. The result is a convergence of pressures that no single discipline can address.This Research Topic makes a distinctive contribution to One Health science by placing mammals — the taxonomic group most biologically proximate to humans — at the centre of the investigation, and by treating environmental change as the primary driver of shifting zoonotic risk. Rather than cataloguing individual diseases, we seek to understand how land-use change, habitat loss, climate shifts, and altered patterns of human–wildlife contact collectively reshape the conditions for pathogen transmission across all major zoonotic categories.These include viral pathogens with spillover potential from wild mammal reservoir hosts; arthropod-borne and vector-mediated diseases whose ranges are expanding as ecosystems are disrupted; protozoal and parasitic infections sustained by environmental contamination in degraded habitats; helminthic diseases cycling through invertebrate intermediate hosts in human-modified landscapes; and bacterial pathogens shared at the frontier between livestock and wildlife. By examining how these dynamics interact across species and landscapes, the Topic aims to generate evidence that is as relevant to conservation science and veterinary practice as it is to infectious disease policy.We welcome original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and perspectives on disease ecology, zoonotic spillover, and pathogen surveillance in wild mammal systems, from any geographic region. Research that explicitly connects environmental or land-use change to transmission risk — whether through shifting host communities, expanding vector ranges, habitat degradation, or changing patterns of human–wildlife contact — is particularly encouraged.Eligible topics span all major zoonotic pathogen categories: viral zoonoses and spillover risk; arthropod-borne and other vector-mediated diseases; protozoal, helminthic, and fungal pathogens; and bacterial diseases at the livestock–wildlife interface. Methodological approaches may include ecological field studies, molecular and genomic pathogen characterization, spatial and remote-sensing analysis, epidemiological modelling, surveillance design, and long-term monitoring programs. Studies that link ecological findings with conservation or public health outcomes are especially welcome. Work focused exclusively on domesticated animals, human clinical outcomes, or non-mammalian taxa falls outside this Topic's scope. All contributions should situate their findings within the One Health framework and, where relevant, discuss implications for disease prevention, conservation, or policy. Topic editors: Matheus Dias Cordeiro, Diana Martiza Echeverry Berrio Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81992/one-health-at-the-wild-domestic-human-interface-mammal-disease-ecology-under-environmental-change