Are traded wildlife species secretly spreading deadly diseases to humans?

CLAIM — Almost half of traded wildlife carry disease-causing pathogens, with more than 40% of traded mammal species sharing at least one pathogen with humans compared to only 6% of non-traded mammals.[1][2]

VERDICT — TRUE

EVIDENCE — The Reddit post in r/science shares a Nature news article summarizing a peer-reviewed study published in Science on April 9, 2026 (DOI: 10.1126/science.adw5518), which analyzed 40 years of wildlife trade data from three databases and a pathogen database. The study by Jérôme Gippet et al. found that of 2,079 traded wild mammal species, 41% share one or more pathogens with humans, versus 6.4% of non-traded mammals; traded species are 1.5 times more likely to share pathogens, with risk increasing by one additional pathogen per decade in trade.[2][1][3] Multiple outlets including Washington Post, NPR, Yale School of Public Health, and Scientific American reported the same findings from the study.[4][5]

SOURCE CHECK — r/science is a large (over 40 million subscribers), strictly moderated subreddit for peer-reviewed science discussions; this post (posted April 12, 2026, 379 upvotes) directly links to a Nature article on a Science paper.[1]

CREDIBILITY — 10

CONFIDENCE — 10

BIAS — CENTER

CATEGORY — Health & Science