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Great Indian Flying Fox Bat by Hari K Patibanda CC BY 2.0.

Cornell disease ecologist Dr. Raina Plowright has spent a decade studying how Hendra virus spills over from bats to horses and potentially people.
Event organizers with CTPH founders

The Cornell Wildlife Health Center partnered with the student-led Cornell Zoo and Wildlife Society to host Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder of Conservation Through Public Health, as a special speaker at Cornell University.
Flying Fox by Nils Bouillard-ztyLXIUYYho-unsplash.

First it jumped from bats to pigs. Then pigs gave it to people. Now the brain-damaging Nipah virus has found a way to leap from bats to humans without an intermediary host.
African forest image by Yaayaa Diallo from Pixabay

An investigation conducted by ProPublica found that deforestation could increase the risk of Ebola spilling over into people at several sites in Africa. As part of their research, ProPublica consulted with Cornell's Dr. Raina Plowright, who is also a senior author of the theoretical model used in their analysis.
Dr. Laura Goodman holding one of the nanoscale PCR pathogen arrays her lab has developed.

Cornell's Dr. Laura Goodman says there's evidence that warming temperatures have already led to the emergence of a new fungal disease, Candida auris. She says that it's probably harmless for many people, but those with compromised immune systems may be at risk.
Steve Osofsky standing by jeep in Bwabwata National Park

From Ithaca to the plains of southern Africa, the Cornell Wildlife Health Center is working to heal the natural world. Launched in 2020, the center was formed to unite Cornell’s leading wildlife health professionals under a common mission: to repair the fractured relationship between people and nature.
Two Grey headed flying foxes (bats) shown hanging in a tree

Preserving and restoring natural habitats could prevent pathogens that originate in wildlife from spilling over into domesticated animals and humans, according to two new companion studies.
A graphical representation of taking care of the Earth, showing two hands clasping the natural world with buildings in the middle

Video

It is no longer possible to separate the health of the planet from the health of its people. Disease patterns are changing as the climate does, and human health is at risk from loss of biodiversity, depleted water supplies, environmental toxins, and collapsing food systems. 
A colony of bats hanging in trees by Bat colony by Forencia Lewis-unsplash

Raina Plowright, a disease ecologist at Cornell University who studies pandemic prevention, has been studying Hendra virus in bats. She advises us to pay attention to bat habitat and to keep bats well-fed and healthy in order to reduce the risk of bat-borne viruses passing from animals into humans.
A student at the symposium poster session showcasing and discussing her work.

In October 2022, CVM's Department of Public and Ecosystem Health held its first departmental symposium, which featured faculty and staff presentations, a student poster session and a panel discussion.