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Vultures and human health, a prime example of proto One Health Economics

For over ten years I have been using the paper Counting the Cost of Vulture Decline published in Ecological Economics in 2008 by Markandya et al.  in my Ecosystem Services Economics postgraduate course to illustrate that essential Ecosystem Services are often provided by unexpected living beings, such as those rather unpopular birds. And I recently realized that it was actually a prime example of One Health Economics implemented before the formalization of the One Health framework itself.

©Dargaud Editions

Vultures play a critical role in the ecosystem by consuming animal carcasses, thereby preventing the spread of diseases. The very sharp decline in vulture populations in India between 1992 and 2007, primarily due to the overuse of the veterinary anti-inflammatory drugs for cows, led to an increase in carcass decomposition time, facilitating the proliferation of feral dogs, and consequently, the spread of rabies, as well as the contamination of water and air.

Markandya et al. quantify the significant economic impact of vulture decline, estimating the increased healthcare costs and the economic burden of rabies in India (around 34 billion US$). This comprehensive analysis incorporates veterinary health, human public health, and economic costs, demonstrating the interconnectedness of these sectors. Their analysis can thus be characterized as a form of One Health Burden such as we defined it in our OHE agenda. And they rely on this burden estimation to demonstrate through a simple cost-benefit analysis that coordinated efforts across sectors associating stricter regulation of veterinary pharmaceuticals, conservation programs for vulture populations, and public health initiatives to control feral dog populations would be a very cost-effective solution to avoid expansive human health damages.

This figure taken from the article represents the chain reaction triggered by vulture decline, highlighting the interdependence between environmental health, animal health, and human health. I highlighted in colors the components of human, animal and environmental health of this event diagram.

If you have other examples in mind of proto-OHE papers please send a contribution or tag it in the comments!


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Marc Leandri (17 juillet 2024). Vultures and human health, a prime example of proto One Health Economics. One Health Economics (OHE). Consulté le 18 novembre 2025 à l’adresse https://1healthecon.hypotheses.org/384


Marc Leandri

Health and Environmental Economist @UMI SOURCE - IRD Associate Professor, UVSQ - Université Paris Saclay

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4 réponses

  1. concerned citizen dit :

    Also connected (and concerning another maligned animal): Catrin Einhorn’s article in today’s New York Times, “Surprising New Research Links Infant Mortality to Crashing Bat Populations”: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/climate/bats-pesticides-infant-mortality.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ik4.OG3H.NLOGJBJi5trd&smid=url-share

  2. Sylvie Ferrari dit :

    un bel exemple systémique!

  3. concerned citizen dit :

    A critically important subject, touched upon in Catrin Einhorn’s recent article and audio piece in The New York Times: “How a Crisis for Vultures Led to a Human Disaster: Half a Million Deaths”: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/climate/vultures-india-poisoning.html?unlocked_article_code=1._U0.ljvC.V0aDHCH-7j-Z&smid=url-share

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