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Infectious Disease Data from Surveillance, Outbreak Investigation, and Epidemiological Studies
Published in Leonhard Held, Niel Hens, Philip O’Neill, Jacco Wallinga, Handbook of Infectious Disease Data Analysis, 2019
Surveillance of zoonoses. Surveillance of zoonoses (infections which can spread between vertebrate animals and humans) usually requires dedicated surveillance in not only humans, but also animal reservoirs, vectors and sometimes the environment (so called one health surveillance). Birds are an important reservoir for a large number of influenza viruses. Some of these viruses occasionally take on the ability to spread from birds to humans, and occasionally then from person to person (which can then develop into a pandemic). Early detection of viruses that may have acquired the potential for spread from bird to human is important as part of pandemic preparedness. A recent example is A(H7N9), which is currently circulating in poultry flocks in China, and has acquired the ability to spread from bird to human. Avian surveillance has been important to detect if the virus has spread elsewhere in China and to neighboring countries.
Introducing eHealth
Published in Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen, Saskia M. Kelders, Hanneke Kip, Robbert Sanderman, eHealth Research, Theory and Development, 2018
Lisette (J.E.W.C.) van Gemert-Pijnen, Hanneke Kip, Saskia M. Kelders, Robbert Sanderman
Finally, technology can support communication between health professionals about societal health issues. An example of this is the risk communication, decision making and education of healthcare professionals about zoonoses. Zoonoses are infectious diseases of animals that can be naturally transmitted to humans, like Lyme disease and MRSA. A technology such as a serious game can be used to support this.
Rural diseases
Published in Jim Cox, Iain Mungall, Rural Healthcare, 2017
Zoonoses are infections passed to man from animals. There are many illnesses in this category, but not all are seen in the UK. Many zoonotic infections produce non-specific symptoms or only subclinical illness in man. Many remain undiagnosed by GPs. Others are only diagnosed in retrospect by antibody tests. Information about incidence and geographic distribution within the UK is hard to come by. There is a need for more research.
Variant influenza: connecting the missing dots
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2022
Vivek Chavda, Rajashri Bezbaruah, Tutumoni Kalita, Anupam Sarma, Juti Rani Devi, Ratnali Bania, Vasso Apostolopoulos
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized zoonosis as any infection or illness that could spontaneously be transmitted either from non-human vertebrates to humans or from the human population to animal species [1-3]. The word ‘zoonoses’ was derived using the Greek words ‘zoon,’ which denotes animal, and ‘nosos,’ which implies disease. Approximately 61% of the human pathogens are zoonotic [4,5]. Since all living beings, including both animals and humans as well as the environment, contribute to the pathogenesis and prevalence of the disease, it was reported that a significant percentage of infectious diseases that impact people are caused by animals [6]. In recent decades, human diseases of animal origin have evolved, and these diseases have been linked to animal origin diets. Some diseases, such as HIV infection, start out as zoonosis, but later the strains mutate and affect only humans. Zoonoses are a notable health concern as well as a direct human health risk that can cause death [7]. Additionally, the 13 most frequent zoonoses have had the greatest impact on poor livestock workers in economically developing countries, causing an estimated 2.4 billion infected cases of the disease and 2.7 million human deaths per year [8]. The majority of these diseases have a negative influence on animal health and reduce animal productivity considerably [4].
Modern vaccine strategies for emerging zoonotic viruses
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2022
Atif Ahmed, Muhammad Safdar, Samran Sardar, Sahar Yousaf, Fiza Farooq, Ali Raza, Muhammad Shahid, Kausar Malik, Samia Afzal
The emergence of novel pathogens from the animal reservoir with enhanced capacity for dissemination is another potential threat to public health [1]. The occurrence of infectious diseases through zoonosis has significantly increased in number and severity over the last two decades [2]. Zoonotic pathogens are responsible for 65% of emerging infectious diseases in humans and are mostly related to viruses [3]. The cryptic transmission of zoonotic intracellular parasites is a unique property that promotes successful dissemination in the susceptible population until its proper diagnosis. These are mostly respiratory diseases and primarily spread in the human population through breathing; however, few viral particles follow alternate pathways of transmission, but their transmissibility is low. These infections originate from the spillover of pathogens from animal reservoirs that exhibit several new characteristics along with few previous features. Therefore, zoonotic viruses either reemerge in the same geographical regions with mutated genotypes or emerge in different geographical territories with similar gene sets. The emerging and reemerging viral diseases in different geographical locations through distinct animal reservoirs with unique transmission patterns are discussed in Table 1. However, the unpredictable nature, elevated case fatality rates, uncertainty in the determination of responsible animal reservoir, and unidentified modes of transmission are distinguished features of zoonotic organisms making it a global threat to human health [4].
Emerging and threatening vector-borne zoonoses in the world and in Europe: a brief update
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2019
On the individual level, main preventive intervention is a vaccination, which increases the survival of less resistant individuals and also decreases the number of potentially infected vectors. The development of treatment and medication for emerging diseases represents a challenge for medical and biochemical sciences. Recently, a treatment exists for a large number of zoonoses, however, due to economic reasons it is used mainly in well-developed countries. There is an urgent demand for developing cheap and accessible drugs affordable in low-income countries. Another and perhaps even more threatening problem is the increasing antibiotic resistance caused both by high mutation rate of infectious agents and by an excessive use of antibiotics. This makes the development of effective and alternative treatment considerably more difficult because more new pharmaceutical drugs have to be tested [116,117].