zoonosis

Physicians play a key role in zoonotic disease detection and prevention. When patients mention their contact with pets or wild animals it is important for health workers to follow up with questions that assess exposures and potential risks of zoonotic diseases. The CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases has published an informative guideline for physicians to assist them in reviewing and acting upon potential zoonotic issues for patients. 

It is not uncommon for patients to ask me whether an illness in a pet could be related to symptoms they are experiencing. For example, a patient suffering from allergies caused by mold in her house told me about her dog that was being treated by a veterinary allergist. Was it possible that human and dog were dealing with the same problem?

Recently, a commentary on the practice of culling animals to reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases (Johansen and Penrith 2009) caught my attention.

The past two decades have seen some remarkable emergence of new and deadly pathogens, from SARS to avian influenza H5N1 and the novel 2009 H1N1 influenza strain. It is often pointed out that a majority of recent emerging infections are “zoonotic” (transmitted from animals to people) in origin.