Human-Animal Diseases Kill 2.2 Million People a Year
A mere 13 zoonotic diseases are to blame for 2.4 billion cases of illness in humans around the world, and for 2.2 million deaths per year.
A new report issued this week looks at the sources and fallout from diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis E and anthrax that can cause infection in both humans and animals.
Developing countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and India carry the biggest burdens of the diseases, but developed countries aren’t off the hook. Emerging zoonoses such as avian flu have been found in the United Kingdom, other parts of Western Europe and the northeastern U.S.
The report defines emerging zoonotic diseases as those that are recently infecting humans, and are newly virulent or have already become resistant to drugs.
"From cyst-causing tapeworms to avian flu, zoonoses present a major threat to human and animal health," said lead author Delia Grace in a news release. “Targeting the diseases in the hardest hit countries is crucial to protecting global health as well as to reducing severe levels of poverty and illness among the world's one billion poor livestock keepers."
Grace is a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert with the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute, which conducted the study, along with the Institute of Zoology in the UK and the Hanoi School of Public Health in Vietnam.
She added that the “exploding global demand” for livestock products will probably fuel the spread of a variety of zoonotic diseases. The report said that although wild and domesticated animals can spread zoonoses, most human infections stem from 24 billion livestock around the world, such as pigs, cattle, goats, sheep and camels.
Bernard Vallat, director-general of the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris told Nature, “Developing countries need help to develop reporting and surveillance networks and training for farmers and veterinarians in spotting and reporting incidents of disease.”
What do you think will help stop the spread of zoonoses worldwide? Let us know in the comments.
Jeannine Stein, a California native, wrote about health for the Los Angeles Times. In her pursuit of a healthy lifestyle she has taken countless fitness classes, hiked in Nepal, and has gotten in a boxing ring. Email Jeannine
