Coronavirus pandemic: What does zoonotic diseases mean? How do they spread?
New Delhi, Apr 02: The coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly a million people and 47,235 deaths have been reported so far, we have now been introduced to a new word called 'zoonosis' or also called as 'zoonotic'. Though it is not yet clear which animals were the source of the new coronavirus - was it bats? Was it pangolins? Was it both? But some scientists are sure that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated from animals.
So, what exactly this scientific word mean?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) a zoonosis is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans.
Animals thus play an essential role in maintaining zoonotic infections in nature.
Zoonoses may be bacterial, viral, or parasitic, or may involve unconventional agents.
As well as being a public health problem, many of the major zoonotic diseases prevent the efficient production of food of animal origin and create obstacles to international trade in animal products. The reactions to these virus can vary for mild to serve and even fatal.
According to the US site for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), zoonotic diseases or zoonoses are when germs are spread between humans and animals.
So, Zoonotic diseases may be endemic, which means it is spread only in defined region or population, or they may be epidemic, when their spread is more far-reaching.
A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic. And Coronavirus has been designated a pandemic by the WHO.
So, how do infections jump from animals to people?
According to the National Institutes of Health, almost 16 percent of all deaths worldwide can be attributed to infectious diseases, and zoonoses account for 60 percent of known infectious diseases and 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases.
Direct
contact:
While
petting
or
touching
animals,
and
bites
or
scratches.
Indirect
contact:
Coming
into
contact
with
areas
where
animals
live
and
roam.
Vector-borne:
Being
bitten
by
a
tick,
or
an
insect
like
a
mosquito.
Eating
or
drinking
contaminated
food.
Water-borne:
Drinking
or
coming
in
contact
with
water
that
has
been
contaminated
with
feces
from
an
infected
animal.
While
it
is
not
yet
clear
which
animals
were
the
source
of
the
new
coronavirus,
here's
a
list
of
common
animals
and
some
of
the
diseases
we
can
get
from
them:
Cats:
toxoplasmosis;
Pasteurella;
ringworm
Bats:
Ebola
virus;
SARS;
MERS;
rabies;
Nipah
virus;
Hendra
virus
Dogs:
rabies;
noroviruses;
Pasteurella;
salmonella;
ringworm;
hookworm
Ticks:
Lyme
disease;
Rocky
Mountain
spotted
fever;
Powassan
disease
Mosquitoes:
malaria;
dengue;
West
Nile
virus;
Zika
virus;
Chikungunya
virus
Birds:
bird
flu
(H1N1,
H5N1);
salmonella;
psittacosis
Cows:
Escherichia
coli;
ringworm;
salmonellosis
Rodents:
Hantavirus
pulmonary
syndrome;
plague;
rat-bite
fever;
salmonellosis