Human activity may be driving a rise in infectious disease outbreaks, new analysis finds

Infectious disease outbreaks are increasing worldwide, and a new analysis suggests human activity is partly to blame, according to NPR.

The analysis points to factors including deforestation and climate change as contributors to the trend, NPR reported, though the excerpt reviewed for this article did not specify the research institutions involved, the geographic scope of the data, or the time period covered.

Researchers have increasingly linked environmental disruption, such as habitat loss and shifting climate patterns, to greater human exposure to pathogens that originate in wildlife, a process sometimes described as spillover. Public health experts have called for closer monitoring of these environmental drivers as part of outbreak-prevention strategies.

Further details of the analysis, including its specific findings and methodology, were not included in the excerpt available for this report.