Ashoka University launches long-term study on zoonotic disease outbreaks

Is setting up field stations to study cohabitation and pathogen sharing of animals and humans

Amid rising cases of zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19 and Monkeypox, a team of researchers at Ashoka University has launched a long-term research project to study cohabitation of animals and humans, and pathogen sharing among species.

With its first field station coming up in Western Himalayas, the research is looking to set up more field stations in regions like Western Ghats, Aravallis and southern India, backed by funding from the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability at Ashoka University.

According to Balaji Chattopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, while enormous resources have been spent over the years