bushmeat

Zoonotic Disease Risk and the Bushmeat Trade: Assessing Awareness Among Hunters and Traders in Sierra Leone

Briefing

The bushmeat industry has been a topic of increasing importance among both conservationists and public health officials for its influence on zoonotic disease transmission and animal conservation. While the association between infectious diseases and the bushmeat trade is well established in the research community, risk perception among bushmeat hunters and traders has not been well characterized. I conducted surveys of 123 bushmeat hunters and traders in rural Sierra Leone to investigate hunting practices and awareness of zoonotic disease risk associated with the bushmeat trade. Twenty-four percent of bushmeat hunters and traders reported knowledge of disease transmission from animals to humans.
Formal education did not significantly affect awareness of zoonotic disease transmission. Individuals who engaged exclusively in preparation and trading of bushmeat were more likely to accidentally cut themselves compared to those who primarily engaged in bushmeat hunting (P < 0.001). In addition,

Unintended Consequences of the ‘Bushmeat Ban’ in West Africa during the 2013-2016 Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic

Background report

Following the 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, governments across the region imposed a ban on the hunting and consumption of meat from wild animals. This injunction was accompanied by public health messages emphasising the infectious potential of wild meat, or ‘bushmeat.’
Using qualitative methods, the authors examine the local reception and impact of these interventions. Fieldwork was focused in 9 villages in the Eastern and Southern provinces of Sierra Leone between August and December 2015. They conducted 47 semi-structured interviews, coordinated 12 informal group discussions, and conducted direct observations throughout.
The authors also draw from research undertaken in Sierra Leone immediately before the outbreak, and from our participation in the EVD response in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Our findings underscore the social and political reverberations of hunting proscriptions. Messaging that unilaterally stressed the health risk posed by wild meat contradicted the experiences of target publics,

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