Bushmeat Roulette: Species Uncertainty and Disease Risk

The potential dangers of disease spillovers from hunted wildlife to humans and livestock are well recognized. Spillover occurs most frequently from bat and primate species, threatening food safety and security. In northern... [ view full abstract ]

The potential dangers of disease spillovers from hunted wildlife to humans and livestock are well recognized. Spillover occurs most frequently from bat and primate species, threatening food safety and security. In northern Uganda, the risk of primate or bat to human and livestock disease spillover should be minimal due to cultural norms. However, hunters butcher primates into unidentifiable pieces of meat to disguise it as culturally acceptable species. Our goal is to quantify the risk of disease spillover from bushmeat to humans in communities north of Murchison Falls National Park. In Summer 2016, we surveyed 181 hunters on perceived disease risk and collected 90 bushmeat samples. Key survey findings were that bats and primates are perceived to be of higher disease risk than other wildlife and livestock, hunters are 'frequently' wounded when cutting or butchering bushmeat, and both dealers and hunters are disguising primates as more socially acceptable species when butchering. DNA has been successfully extracted, amplified (mammalian and bacterial PCR), and sequenced from the 90 samples to determine species and presence of bacterial pathogens. Bushmeat samples are banked for RNA extractions and deep scans in July 2017. Our results indicate that there is opportunity to reduce crossover events by improving safety when butchering and reducing bushmeat demand through educational campaigns highlighting the species uncertainty in markets.