Zoonoses

For the past month I have been writing on various infectious diseases that are affecting our world today.

In my entry today I will continue on our topic of infectious diseases and we are going to look at what are known as zoonoses.

First of all let us start by defining the word Zoonosis (plural- Zoonoses). Zoonosis is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. Zoonoses are diseases of interest to humans  as humans have for centuries interacted with animals both wild and domesticated. Zoonoses can be transmitted through animal excreta, urine, and animal products.

Over 200 zoonoses have been described so far and atleast 61% of all human pathogens are zoonotic.  The big question is still what causes zoonoses?

Zoonoses are caused by various agents including:

·         Bacteria

·         Parasites

·         Fungi

·         Viruses

·         Unconventional agents

Let us break down some of the zoonotic diseases by their causative agents.

1.    Zoonoses caused by Bacteria

·         Salmonellosis

·         Campylobacteriosis

·         Anthrax

·         Brucellosis

·         Leptospirosis

·         Plague

·         Q-fever

·         Shigellosis

·         Tularaenia

2.    Zoonoses caused by Parasites

·         Cysticercosis/Taeniasis

·         Trematodosis

·         Echinococcosis

·         Toxoplasmosis

·         Trichinellosis

3.    Zoonoses caused by viruses

·         Rabies

·         Avian flu (bird flu) H5N1

·         Crimean- Congo hemorrhagic fever

·         Ebola

·         Rift valley fever

4.    Unconventional agents

·         These are agents that are yet to be defined for example the agent that causes spongiform encephalopathy the same variant that causes variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

In the coming weeks I will be looking at how zoonoses have affected communities, the efforts that have been put forward to overcome these zoonoses and the way forward.