What is World Zoonoses Day all about?

New Delhi, July 06: Today is World Zoonoses Day which is observed on July 6 every year to commemorate the scientific achievement of administering first vaccination against a zoonotic disease. Zoonoses are infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites that spread between animals and humans.

It was on July 6, 1885, when Louis Pasteur successfully administered the first vaccine against Rabies virus, a zoonotic disease. Approximately 150 zoonotic diseases are known to exist. Zoonoses can spread from direct contact with animals or indirectly, vector-borne or food-borne.

Zoonoses Day is held every year on July 6 to commemorate Pasteur's scientific achievement and raise awareness of the risk of zoonotic diseases. People can get zoonotic diseases from contact with infected live poultry, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and other domestic and wild animals. A common way for these diseases to spread is through the bite of a mosquito or tick.

The most common zoonotic diseases:

• Plague
• Tuberculosis
• Cat Scratch Fever
• Tick Paralysis
• Hantavirus
• Ringworm
• Salmonellosis
• Leptospirosis
• Lyme disease
• Campylobacter infection
• Giardia infection
• Cryptosporidium infection
• Roundworms
• Hookworms
• Scabies
• Harvest mites
• Rabies

Who was Louis Pasteur?

Louis Pasteur was a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax.

His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization.