Deforestation in the Amazon grows over 200% in August 2019 compared to August of 2018; illegal and uncontrolled logging in the region increases risks of disease and pandemics

According to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), the Amazon rainforest has lost 1,698 square kilometers of vegetation. In August 2018, there were 526 square kilometers. In the first eight months of 2019, the deforested area reached 6,404 square kilometers (92% higher than in the same period of 2018), and 30,901 fire outbreaks were recorded in the Amazon biome in this period.

In the Amazon, 35% of deforestation cases occur in land grabbing areas in public forests, parks or public areas without a destination. This is what reveals a study by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).

According to National Geographic Brazil, deforestation is causing an increase in infectious diseases in humans. According to scientists interviewed by the magazine, with the increase in the felling of forests around the world, grows the "fear that the next deadly pandemic may arise from within these environments."

According to the National Geographic report, over the past two decades, increasing scientific evidence suggests that deforestation, by initiating a complex chain of events, creates conditions for spreading a wide range of deadly pathogens among humans, including, the Nipah and Lassa viruses, and the parasites that cause malaria and Lyme disease.