Zoonosis
Zoonosis refers to any infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals, both wild and domestic, to humans. The word is derived from Greek words zoon (animal) and nosos (disease). Many serious diseases fall under this category.
Some agents that can carry zoonoses include:
Zoonoses can be listed according to the infective agent :
Some of the more important zoonoses are:
- Anthrax
- Campylobacteriosis
- Cutaneous larva migrans
- Leptospirosis
- Bubonic plague
- Listeriosis
- Rabies
- Salmonellosis
- Trichinosis
- Toxoplasmosis
- Typhus and other Rickettsial diseases
- Lassa fever
- Ebola fever
- Marburg virus infection
- Ornithosis
- Brucellosis
- Foot and mouth disease (Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease)
This list is by no means complete. The influenza virus is an interesting example of these: it continually recombines genes between strains found in humans, ducks, and pigs, producing new strains with changed characteristics, and occasionally, as in 1918, killing millions worldwide.