Land use change and human health

Human activity is rapidly transforming our planet. The most pervasive changes to the landscape include deforestation, extension and intensification of agriculture, and livestock management, the construction of dams, irrigation projects, and roads, and rapidly spreading urbanization. In addition to the well-known environmental costs of these changes, each also has important health implications that are often less recognized. However, a growing number of studies that combine ecology and human health are demonstrating how these activities impact the emergence of new infectious diseases and alter the distribution of already recognized diseases.