World Zoonoses Day 2021: Know what it is, who is at risk, prevention and control and other details

Every year July 6 is observed all across the world as World Zoonoses Day to commemorate the first vaccination administered against a zoonotic disease.

As today the entire globe is observing the World Zoonoses Day here are some of the details one need to know:

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What is zoonoses?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), zoonoses is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. There are over 200 known types of zoonoses and the disease comprise a large percentage of new and existing diseases in humans.

As per the information provided by WHO, some zoonoses, such as rabies, are 100 percent preventable through vaccination and other methods.

You can know that the word 'Zoonoses' was introduced by Rudolf Virchow in 1880 to include collectively the diseases shared in nature by man and animals. Later WHO in 1959 defined that Zoonoses as mentioned above. 

How can the disease spread?

Zoonotic pathogens may be bacterial, viral or parasitic, or may involve unconventional agents and can spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment. Zoonoses can also cause disruptions in the production and trade of animal products for food and other uses.

Zoonoses comprise a large percentage of all newly identified infectious diseases as well as many existing ones. Some diseases, such as HIV, begin as a zoonosis but later mutate into human-only strains. Other zoonoses can cause recurring disease outbreaks, such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis. Still others, such as the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, have the potential to cause global pandemics. 

Prevention and control

Prevention methods for zoonotic diseases differ for each pathogen; however, several practices are recognized as effective in reducing risk at the community and personal levels. 

Safe and appropriate guidelines for animal care in the agricultural sector help to reduce the potential for foodborne zoonotic disease outbreaks through foods such as meat, eggs, dairy or even some vegetables. 

Standards for clean drinking water and waste removal, as well as protections for surface water in the natural environment, are also important and effective. 

Education campaigns to promote handwashing after contact with animals and other behavioural adjustments can reduce community spread of zoonotic diseases when they occur.

Antimicrobial resistance is a complicating factor in the control and prevention of zoonoses. 

The use of antibiotics in animals raised for food is widespread and increases the potential for drug-resistant strains of zoonotic pathogens capable of spreading quickly in animal and human populations.

Who is at risk?

Zoonotic pathogens can spread to humans through any contact point with domestic, agricultural or wild animals. Markets selling the meat or by-products of wild animals are particularly high risk due to the large number of new or undocumented pathogens known to exist in some wild animal populations. 

Agricultural workers in areas with a high use of antibiotics for farm animals may be at increased risk of pathogens resistant to current antimicrobial drugs. 

People living adjacent to wilderness areas or in semi-urban areas with higher numbers of wild animals are at risk of disease from animals such as rats, foxes or raccoons. 

Urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats increase the risk of zoonotic diseases by increasing contact between humans and wild animals.