Domestication Matters: Risk Analyses Necessary to Prevent Zoonotic Pathogen Spillover from International Wildlife Trade are Constrained by Terminology

This paper explores how the terms domesticated animals and wildlife are applied across US federal agencies, as well as the implications thereof. The authors demonstrate how use of these terms strays from their scientific meaning, confounds regulatory authorities and procedures, and thus reduces scientific integrity of US wildlife trade data available for zoonotic risk analyses.