Agribusiness and health in the Cerrado and Amazon: Spatialization and acceleration of the spillover of new pathogens

Espacialización y aceleración de la transmisión de nuevos patógenos

Abstract

This essay analyzes the relationship between the expansion of agribusiness in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes and the emergence of new pathogens with epidemic potential. It begins with the discovery of new arenaviruses (Xapuri and Aporé) to discuss how territorial transformation promoted by soybean and sugarcane monocultures, enabled by state policies and financialization, creates ecological conditions favorable to the proliferation of wild reservoirs, such as rodents and bats. Landscape homogenization, deforestation, and the forced approximation between humans and wildlife increase the risk of disease spillover, such as hantaviruses and hemorrhagic fevers. The essay criticizes traditional epidemiological approaches and proposes an integrated reading that articulates the social determination of health, political ecology, and traditional knowledge, to face contemporary health challenges.