Study: Biodiversity loss and climate change are the biggest drivers of infectious disease

A new study published in the journal Nature suggests that biodiversity loss, which is the decrease in the variety of living organisms, may be a main driver of infectious diseases across the world, followed by non-native species, climate change, and chemical pollution. Professor Jason Rohr, Chair of the Department of Ecology and Public Health at the University of Notre Dame is one of the authors of the study. Speaking with VOA’s Rick Pantaleo, he explained why those in charge of leading disease control efforts in the past were flying blind since they did not know which global change drivers most increased or decreased infections.