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Many emerging and reemerging human pathogens are derived from animals or from animal tissues, waste, or products. A wide range of species including insects (eg, mosquitos), wild animals (eg, rodents, bats, and monkeys), draft animals (eg, horses and mules), and livestock animals (eg, swine, poultry, and cattle) have been implicated in transmission of various highly pathogenic infections, including parasitic, bacterial, and viral diseases, to humans. Among the most deadly emerging zoonotic diseases are viral hemorrhagic fevers, including those caused by the filoviruses, EBOV and MARV. The zoonotic potential of these viruses was identified at the time of their discovery during
Rift Valley fever virus is a mosquito-borne pathogen of livestock and humans that historically has been responsible for widespread and devastating outbreaks of severe disease throughout Africa and, more recently, the Arabian Peninsula. The virus was first isolated and RVF disease was initially characterized following the sudden deaths (over a 4-week period) of approximately 4,700 lambs and ewes on a single farm along the shores of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya in 1931.
Leptospirosis, a bacterial zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution, is caused by spirochetes of the genus
Animal bites continue to pose major public health challenges. Since publication of the previous report
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was described as a new disease of cattle in 1987.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies affect humans and other animals. Clinically, the diseases involve severe, progressive neurodegeneration with an invariably fatal outcome. The TSEs are linked by the unusual nature of their causative agent, which is believed to be a transmissible protein devoid of nucleic acid. This protein, known as a prion (a pseudoabbreviation for proteinaceous infectious particle), is a hallmark feature and purported pathogen of human and other animal TSEs.
Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases in the world and, as such, poses a major threat to human health and animal agriculture. In the United States, however, concentrated animal disease control programs, occupational safety practices, and food safety efforts have diminished the relative impact of brucellosis over the last half century. At its most basic level, brucellosis in humans is dependent on the presence of
Glanders is a highly contagious bacterial disease of horses, mules, and donkeys that is characterized by respiratory, cutaneous, and lymphatic nodular lesions. The disease is zoonotic, affecting persons in close contact with infected animals or those working with the organism in laboratory settings. Once prevalent worldwide, glanders has been eradicated from most countries; however, focal outbreaks do still occur.
Anthrax is an ancient zoonotic disease that continues to threaten human and animal health. It remains enzootic in many regions of the world, and cases of anthrax among humans are frequently reported. Outbreaks occur annually among wild and domestic herbivores in North America, although this infection is no longer a substantial cause of human disease in the United States. As a result of the occurrence of anthrax worldwide, and because of its bioterrorist potential, veterinarians should understand the epidemiology, clinical signs, treatment, and control of anthrax.
Anthrax is the infection caused by the spore-forming bacterium
West Nile virus was first identified in Africa in 1937, and subsequently, Africa, Europe, Australia, and Asia were recognized as regions in which the virus was endemic.
