In its essence, a zoonosis is a disease which is transmitted from animals to humans. Transmission happens when a human comes into contact with an animal that has been infected with fungi, parasites, viruses or bacteria comes into contact with a human.
There are more than 200 diseases classified as zoonoses. Some examples include yellow fever, malaria, West Nile virus and other mosquitto-transmitted diseases, tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease, farm animal-transmitted diseases like bovine tuberculosis from cattle, and wildlife-transmitted illnesses like rabies. As the rates of globalization of markets, worldwide travel, and the human destruction of animal habitats continues to increase, the number of zoonotic diseases may also continue to rise.
Animal to Human Contact
There are a number of ways in which animals and humans make contact. Humans may be exposed to animals at state fairs, zoos and farms, on trips to the beach or the park, during nature hikes, or in their backyard gardens. In addition, people have been raising farm animals as food and keeping domesticated animals for protection and companionship for thousands of years.
There are certain occupations that are more susceptible to these diseases, including veterinarians, wildlife biologists, farm workers, and construction workers who erect houses on newly cleared land. In addition, because global travel and globalization have increased in recent years, zoonotic diseases that were once limited to specific regions how happen worldwide. For instance, even though bats that host the Ebola virus do not originate in America, two U.S. healthcare workers were exposed to Ebola as they cared for infected travelers from Africa.
Transmission
There are many ways zoonotic diseases can be transmitted. Humans risk contracting diseases by touching the feces, urine, or blood of an infected animal, eating or handling raw or undercooked meat, or through a mosquito or tick bite. People with compromised immune systems, adults over the age of 65, pregnant women, and children under the age of five are more likely to be infected by a zoonotic disease, according to the CDC. While animals are all around, there are several precautions you can take to protect yourself.
First, make sure you thoroughly wash your vegetables and hands both during and after you prepare a meal. Ensuring you are completely cooking your food can also limit food-borne illnesses. Also, make every effort to thoroughly wash your hands after visiting a state fair, zoo, farm, or any area where you’ve been allowed to touch animals.
Second, look for ticks on your skin after you spend some time outside. Reduce your risk of zoonotic diseases by regularly using bug repellent that contains 20% DEET to prevent ticks and mosquitos from biting.
Conclusion
Zoonotic diseases are a public health risk for the world. Diseases like malaria can affect local economies and put a serious strain on the public healthcare system in developing countries. Also, food distributors and sources continue to spread across the globe, food-borne zoonotic diseases can limit international trade agreements, food production, and agriculture. In addition, the fact that some antibiotics are becoming resistant to these bacterial illnesses is now a modern global health threat.
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However, the World Health Organization has implemented a number of initiatives to help decrease the transmission of zoonoses, including developing response and preparedness plans in case of an epidemic infection and surveillance, reporting and tracking activities. Veterinarians are also required to report a zoonosis disease in order to confine or limit potential outbreaks.
