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Photo: Carlos Rodriguez Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 2 of 5 Close-up of a straw-colored fruit bat. Close-up of a straw-colored fruit bat. Photo: Carlos Rodriguez Image 3 of 5 A set of limbs from a Cercopithecus monkey confiscated at O'Hare airport. A set of limbs from a Cercopithecus monkey confiscated at O'Hare airport. Photo: Carlos Rodriguez Image 4 of 5 A researcher takes a sample from a specimen to identify its species. A researcher takes a sample from a specimen to identify its species. Photo: Carlos Rodriguez Image 5 of 5 Among the cargo moving through Bush IAH: Disease-ridden bushmeat 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

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Sometimes, when I’m looking over new studies, I just shake my head.

Consider the following research article, in PLoS ONE, which is the first to examine illegal wildlife “products” being imported into the United States through airports for disease.

Aside from the fact that these animals are often endangered species in their native countries, public health officials are worried about their potential to bring new diseases into the country. Nearly 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases originate in wildlife.

So in 2008 public health officials began screening confiscated animals and bushmeat at John F. Kennedy International Airport and, in 2010, at George Bush Intercontinental and a handful of other U.S. airports.

The results are pretty grim: Researchers identified parts originating from nonhuman primate (NHP) and rodent species, including baboon, chimpanzee, mangabey, guenon, green monkey, cane rat and rat. A search for diseases in the animals turned up retroviruses (simian foamy virus) and herpesviruses (cytomegalovirus and lymphocryptovirus).

“These results are the first demonstration that illegal bushmeat importation into the United States could act as a conduit for pathogen spread,” the researchers conclude.

That’s bad enough. But what really concerns me is who wants to import this kind of stuff? It’s, well, pretty gross. What kind of person is moved to spend, presumably, good money to import bushmeat?