Ticks on trafficked pangolins pose health threats

Tiny stowaways disease-carrying ticks can be hidden under the scales of pangolins, the world's most illegally trafficked mammals.

- Sheree Bega

These ectoparasitic hitchhikers can transmit infectious agents to humans, livestock and wildlife during the illegal trade and rehabilitation of pangolins, said Zwannda Nethavhani, a postdoctoral fellow at Tshwane University of Technology.

On the sidelines of last week's 14th Oppenheimer Research Conference, to advance African-led solutions for biodiversity and climate challenges, she detailed how the transcontinental movement of pangolins and their scales poses spillover risks to humans and animals.

"They are the world's most trafficked mammals," Nethavhani told the Mail & Guardian. "We've been tracking that and now we are worried about what they are carrying under their scales is whatever they're carrying a threat to the receiving country or where they originated from?"