Vulture Conservation-A Frontier of Pandemic Preparedness

The devastating reduction of the population of the vultures in India, where it used to be over 40 million down to a loss of over 95% since the 1990s has grown to be not merely an ecological tragedy but a serious health matter. This is mainly caused by the veterinary medicine diclofenac that is poisonous to the birds that feed on the treated carcasses of livestock.

The Vultures in the public health.

The vultures are the most effective cleaners in nature. They reduce the transmission of lethal disease-causing pathogens such as anthrax, rabies and botulism by quickly eating animal carcasses. This scavenging service provides natural isolative effect to spill over of zoonotic diseases since remains of the infected are eliminated by this scavenging service which may be transmitted to other animals, livestock and human beings. Their extinction poses a great threat of local epidemics and possible outbreaks.

A Central Asian Flyway Regional Challenge.

The vultures of India belong to Central Asian Flyway (CAF) which is a 30-country migration path. Carcass dumping in this pathway may turn into a disease hotspots and vulture protection is a transboundary problem that is needed to secure health in the region.

Through Trial and Error and a Future Oriented Strategy.

Conservation efforts are highly fragmented even with a National Action Plan. These factors are the continued use of toxic drugs, infrastructural risks such as electrocution and failure to integrate into One Health strategies.

Since the current strategy of India (2016-25) is approaching an end, a new five-pillar strategy is suggested to incorporate vulture protection in pandemic preparedness:

• Satellite Telemetry: To map habitats and find risks.
• Decision Support System: Bringing together livestock, human health and wildlife data.
• One Health Coordination: Building a cross-sectoral partnership.
• Transboundary Collaboration: Cooperation with the CAF countries on the basis of international agreements.
• Community Stewardship: The community needs to be involved in conservation.

Conclusion

Vulture conservation is a low cost initiative in preventing the pandemic. It enhances disease surveillance and is consistent with the objective of global health security. It is not only the protection of an essential scavenger but it is an important investment in collective health of the world.