Zoonosis is a medical term that designates the illnesses and infections transmitted to man through the animals. It is a word of Greek origin formed by “zoo, which means "animal" and "our, which means "disease".
Zoonoses are transmitted by animals through viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and other diverse microorganisms. Plague, anthrax, psittacosis, trichinosis and ornithosis are examples of some zoonoses. The most common zoonoses are:
- Toxoplasmosis (mainly transmitted by cats that are definitive hosts of the disease protozoan);
- Leptospirosis (very common in the rainy season because it is transmitted through contact with the skin or by eating food contaminated with the bacteria);
- Rabies (disease caused by a virus and transmitted through the bite of an infected animal);
- Dengue (transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito);
- Histoplasmosis (fungi present in the dried feces of birds, pigeons or bats are the cause of this disease).
Of the various existing zoonoses, they are not as common in humans as in animals and cases of infected people are often not reported. There are other zoonoses which, on the contrary, are less common in animals, but are very serious for human health, eg Brucellosis, Hydatidosis, Q fever. Diseases such as rabies or bovine tuberculosis are equally serious for animals and humans.
Zoonoses such as tuberculosis, bovine and buffalo brucellosis and in milk-producing animals are mandatory notification by the responsible entities (health professionals, for example).
Veterinary Public Health is the area responsible for creating measures to control and combat zoonoses.