EcoHealth Alliance

EcoHealth Alliance operated as a New York-based nonprofit dedicated to preventing pandemics by studying how diseases jump from animals to humans. The group worked at the intersection of public health and wildlife conservation, focusing on biodiversity hotspots across Africa, Asia, and Latin America where deforestation accelerates pathogen spillover. Led by president Peter Daszak, the alliance conducted field research on viruses like Ebola, Nipah, and coronaviruses in bats, primates, and other wildlife. It collaborated with governments, universities, and agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization.

The organization published hundreds of peer-reviewed studies before its funding was cut in 2020 amid political disputes over its work in China. With an annual budget of roughly $10 million, EcoHealth Alliance pioneered global disease hotspot mapping using six decades of environmental data. Despite these scientific contributions, the group faced intense scrutiny regarding its collaborations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, leading to federal debarment and eventual dissolution in April 2025. [edit]

The mission of EcoHealth Alliance was to protect people, animals, and the environment from emerging infectious diseases. The organization championed the One Health approach, recognizing that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply interconnected. Through science-based solutions and partnerships, it aimed to increase global capacity to prevent disease outbreaks and safeguard ecosystems against threats posed by habitat loss and climate change. [edit]

British naturalist Gerald Durrell established the entity in 1971 as Wildlife Preservation Trust International, initially focusing on captive breeding for endangered species. In 1999, the group rebranded as The Wildlife Trust before undergoing a major strategic shift in 2010. That year, it merged with the Consortium for Conservation Medicine and adopted the name EcoHealth Alliance to reflect a new focus on environmental health and disease prevention.

The organization identified key bird reservoirs of West Nile virus in the U.S. during the early 2000s and predicted its spread to the Galapagos and Hawaii. By 2002, it had published Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice through Oxford University Press. President Peter Daszak appeared on 60 Minutes in 2004, warning about a SARS-like virus that could wipe out populations. The group created the first global disease hotspots map in the 2010s using sixty years of environmental and health data.

Political controversy erupted in 2020 over research collaborations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Critics alleged gain-of-function experiments contributed to the origin of SARS-CoV-2, though the organization denied conducting such work. Federal funding cuts accelerated financial decline, and the Department of Health and Human Services formally debarred the group and Dr. Daszak in 2025. Operations ceased shortly after. [edit]