Is Ecotourism a Potential Reservoir for Transfer of Pathogens?
Ecotourism is appealing because it allows visitors to see nature in its purest form, including the ability to interact with fascinating creatures local to the area. Tourism revenue is a significant motivator for natural habitat protection, particularly among local residents who are familiar with ecosystem wildlife and plants.
Apart from the
advantages, the growth of ecotourism has the potential to be a double-edged
sword. Animal feeding, for example, is often used to allow close-up photography
and petting of animals; yet, intimate physical touch between visitors and
animals can cause shifts in animal behavior from eating to social
interactions.
This intimate
human-animal interaction also raises the risk of pathogenic and non-pathogenic
germs being transferred from humans to animals (anthropozoonosis) and from
animals to humans (anthropozoonosis) (zoonosis). The former is especially
important today that cross-continental tourist travel is frequent, enhancing
the transfer of "foreign" microorganisms to purportedly unsusceptible
host systems.
Scientists analyzed the
total microbial feces composition from human samples and two non-human primates(NHP) species in a semi-urban context in Malaysia at the Kuala Selangor Nature
Park to investigate the frequency of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Antibiotic resistance
was observed to be lower in the isolates derived from the two NHPs investigated
in this investigation than in the human subject. The findings may imply minimal
rates of human-to-primate transmission in the natural park, although this is a
possibility. The variation in gut microbial makeup, which affects the
colonization of resistant infections, may potentially play a role in the low
carriage rate.
Researchers contend
that providing food to NHPs may modify the gut microbiota in the future,
affecting carriage rates. It is critical to raise public knowledge about
disease transmission among tourists and inhabitants in order to prevent future
transmission and minimize the damage to animals.
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