Diseases of the wild set to soar

INFECTIOUS diseases triggered by close contact with wildlife, such as SARS, avian flu and AIDS are set to soar, doctors warned yesterday.

Three quarters of infectious diseases are "zoonotic", able to transmit from animals to humans.

This means incidence may grow as human contact with wildlife and world travel increases, doctors warned in the British Medical Journal.

For example ebola virus outbreaks are often linked to hunting for "bushmeat" or mining development.

And the emergence of West Nile virus in North America, and AIDS and SARS globally arose from international travel and trade.

Dr Andrew Cunningham, of the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London, said: "With world air travel expected to grow at about 5 per cent a year for at least 20 years, the problem of emerging infectious diseases will continue to grow."