Other animals are carriers dogs infected in southern United States dogs may be extending the range of this diseaseĪedes mosquito vector (present in United States) Organism in feces of Triatoma bug (“kissing” bug or “assassin” bug) can enter wound blood transfusionĭogs exhibit clinical signs similar to those in humans Rodents rabbits, opossums, dogs, cats, armadillos Used as natural model for human cancer zoonotic potential is controversial.Ĭough, fever disease seen mostly in immune-compromised humans “Feline distemper” of domestic cats is a panleukopenia virus, similar to canine parvovirus. Humans may become subclinically infected. In humans, a different strain of parvovirus (parvovirus B19) causes fever and rash (fifth disease) in children and serious infection in pregnancy.Ĭanine distemper virus (CDV): Morbillivirus (Paramyxovirus family), related to measles virusĭogs and other carnivores, including ferrets, raccoons, skunks, foxes, large felines, sealsįebrile disease, often fatal neurological involvement respiratory signs can occur. Related to feline panleukopenia virus causing “feline distemper.” Infected cats are at risk of opportunistic infections.Ĭause of acute debilitating diarrhea and death in untreated young dogs. As this list shows, many of these agents, while currently not considered zoonotic to any significant degree, bear some relation to human pathogens.įeline immunodeficiency virus infection (feline AIDS)įeline immunodeficiency virus: retrovirus in the same genus as HIV, the causative agent of AIDS in humans 3
For example, human pinworm infection is not a zoonotic disease. Similarly, clinicians can correct misinformation regarding species-specific human diseases that patients may believe come from animal contact. Nonetheless, human health clinicians should (1) be aware of animal diseases that, based on current knowledge, do not appear to cause disease in humans and (2) be able to reassure patients who express such concerns. At the same time, many animal diseases currently are not believed to pose a threat to humans, and many human infectious diseases do not appear to infect pets and other animals.Įxperience has shown that this situation may change as organisms continue to adapt to new environments and acquire mutations that allow them to cross species barriers. Infection in animals can be a warning signal of infectious disease risk to humans, and sometimes the converse is true. These fruit bats, natural hosts for Nipah and other henipaviruses, had sufficient contact with the pig farms to allow the virus pathogen to “spill over” from the wildlife reservoir into the domestic pig population, causing mortality for pigs and humans (and cats) in contact with them. For example, Nipah virus emerged as a deadly pathogen in Malaysia when pig farms were built close to forest areas frequented by fruit bats ( Figure 9-1Īnd Color Plate 9-1). For many zoonotic diseases, however, such approaches are limited because the ultimate causes of infection in the animals may not be addressed sufficiently. The control of such “us versus them” diseases has traditionally involved measures such as control of the animal reservoir (through culling, quarantine, or vaccination) or vector control (through pesticides and personal protection). The problem is viewed as an infectious animal reservoir that then poses an infectious risk to humans-either through direct contact with infected animals and their excretions, meat, milk, or other tissues, or via a vector transmission bringing the pathogen from the animal population into human hosts. One possible reason is that the traditional approach of the human health community to zoonotic disease has been an “us versus them” approach. Therefore the control and prevention of these diseases can be accomplished only through improving approaches to reducing disease transmission among humans and other animals.ĭespite the great deal of attention that has been focused on emerging infectious zoonotic diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, monkeypox, and avian influenza, there has been less discussion and effort targeted at the environmental “drivers” of such diseases.
In fact, the majority of “emerging” infectious diseases in the past three decades are zoonotic. The history of contact between animals and humans has always involved infectious diseases, and today more than half of the infectious diseases of humans are zoonotic in origin. INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN HUMANS AND OTHER ANIMALS: FROM “US VERSUS THEM” TO “SHARED RISK”
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