Publication: Solid Wastes Provide Breeding Sites, Burrows, and Food for Biological Disease Vectors, and Urban Zoonotic Reservoirs: A Call to Action for Solutions-Based Research
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2020-01-17
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BOVA, Durham University
Publisher
Frontiers in Public Health
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Abstract
Background: Infectious disease epidemiology and planetary health literature often cite solid
waste and plastic pollution as risk factors for vector-borne diseases and urban zoonoses;
however, no rigorous reviews of the risks to human health have been published since 1994. This
paper aims to identify research gaps and outline potential solutions to interrupt the vicious cycle
of solid wastes; disease vectors and reservoirs; infection and disease; and poverty.
Methods: We searched peer-reviewed publications from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Stanford
Searchworks, and references from relevant articles using the search terms (“disease” OR
“epidemiology”) AND (“plastic pollution,” “garbage,” and “trash,” “rubbish,” “refuse,” OR
“solid waste”). Abstracts and reports from meetings were included only when they related
directly to previously published work. Only articles published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese
through 2018 were included, with a focus on post-1994, after the last comprehensive review was
published. Cancer, diabetes, and food chain-specific articles were outside the scope and
excluded. After completing the literature review, we further limited the literature to “urban
zoonotic and biological vector-borne diseases” or to “zoonotic and biological vector-borne
diseases of the urban environment.”
Results: Urban biological vector-borne diseases, especially Aedes-borne diseases, are associated
with solid waste accumulation but vector preferences vary over season and region. Urban
zoonosis, especially rodent and canine disease reservoirs, are associated with solid waste in
urban settings, especially when garbage accumulates over time, creating burrowing sites and
food for reservoirs. Although evidence suggests the link between plastic pollution/solid waste
and human disease, measurements are not standardized, confounders are not rigorously
controlled, and the quality of evidence varies. Here we propose a framework for solutions-based
research in three areas: innovation, education, and policy.
Conclusions: Disease epidemics are increasing in scope and scale with urban populations
growing, climate change providing newly suitable vector climates, and immunologically naïve
populations becoming newly exposed. Sustainable solid waste management is crucial to
prevention, specifically in urban environments that favor urban vectors such as Aedes species.
We propose that next steps should include more robust epidemiological measurements and
propose a framework for solutions-based research.
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Keywords
planetary health, infectious disease epidemiology, plastic pollution, vector-borne diseases, urban zoonoses, solid waste