Agribusiness and the pandemic: infectious diseases and industrial livestock production

Abstract

This review presents the central ideas of the book Pandemia e agronegócio: doenças infecciosas, capitalismo e ciência (Wallace, 2020), by the biologist Rob Wallace. The book contains a global and interdisciplinary investigation of the emergence of new pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, within intensive livestock operations. From the study of the origin of epidemic and pandemic outbreaks, such as avian influenza in 2003 in China and swine flu in Mexico in 2009, the author builds a framework that integrates the analysis of public health, animal health and complex ecological systems.