Zoonosis - Symptoms and Treatment

A zoonosis is simply an animal disease which can be transmitted to people.Anthrax is a zoonosis. Zoonosis, also called zoonotic disease refers to diseases that can be passed from animals, whether wild or domesticated, to humans. It normally affects animals, especially ruminants (such as goats, cattle, sheep, and horses), but can be transmitted to humans by contact with infected animals or their products or by biological warfare. Whilst the reported instances of transmission of disease between domesticated animals and humans are not that frequent, they nevertheless represent a significant disease prevalence.

Symptoms of Zoonosis

Zoonosis diseases are transferred by direct contact with infected animals, much as being near an infected human can cause the spread of an infectious diseaseZoonosis diseases may be spread in different ways. Tapeworms care often spread to humans when they eat the infected meat of fish, cattle, and swine. It is important for farmers to know about zoonotic diseases because the symptoms are frequently similar to other types of illnesses. A person can also be infected by just entering a contaminated animal housing facility. Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans are referred to as Zoonosis diseases.

Causes of Zoonosis

Zoonoses can be caused by any form of infectious agent including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi .even prions such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The list of causes are include :

• Bats are important rabies carriers, and also carry several other viral diseases that can affect humans.
• Cats may carry the causative organisms for plague, anthrax , cowpox, tapeworm, and many bacterial infections.
• Dogs may carry plague, tapeworm, rabies, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Lyme disease.
• Horses may carry anthrax, rabies, and Salmonella infections.
• Cattle may carry the organisms that cause anthrax, European tick-borne encephalitis, rabies, tapeworm, Salmonella infections and many bacterial and viral diseases.
• Pigs are best known for carrying tapeworm, but may also carry a large number of other infections including anthrax, influenza , and rabies.
• Sheep and goats may carry rabies, European tick-borne encephalitis, Salmonella infections, and many bacterial and viral diseases.
• Rabbits may carry plague and Q-Fever.
• Birds may carry Campylobacteriosis, Chlamydia psittaci, Pasteurella multocida, Histoplasma capsulatum, Salmonellosis, and others.

Treatment of Zoonosis

Treatment is the established treatment for the specific infection.

• Prolonged treatment with rifampin, which penetrates cells with streptomycin or tetracyclin is used to treat human Brucella infections.
• Many zoonotic diseases that are passed by eating the meat of infected animals can be prevented by proper cooking of the infected meat.
• Raccoons have increasingly become peridomestic animals living in close proximity to human residen
• Plague is prevented by elimination of the rats-a common source of the infection-and of fleas that carry the disease from rats to humans.