Zoonoses (Medical Microbiology) - Essay Example

Zoonoses: Causes, Effects treatment and Prevention Part I Zoonoses are infections which, are passed from animals to human beings. A zoonosis can also be passed from a human to an animal and in this case it is called anthroponosis or a reverse zoonosis. Zoonoses come in a number of varieties each behaving in a different way (Maddocks, 2012). In most cases, Zoonoses do not affect the health of the animals from which they are transmitted to human being; the animal only carries the germs which when transmitted to humans lead to health issues in the human body.

Part II Modern factors affecting zoonotic infections While most zoonotic infections have been contained, there has been an increase in zoonotic infections in the past few years. This has been caused by a number of modern factors which make the process of zoonotic pathogens to be transmitted from animals to human beings. The modern factors affecting the spread of zoonotic infections can be best understood by understanding the nature of these infections (Barbour, 2004). To begin with, the agents of these diseases must evolve enough to be able to live in humans.

They must therefore go through a process of evolution which will make it possible for them to adapt to a new physiological environment, that is, from the animal body to the human bodies. As such, the main factor which can be attributed to this is new farming and agricultural methods. A good example of this is the e-coli bacteria infection in human which has increased in the American public as new methods of livestock farming has changed. With most beef farmers feeding their livestock with corn as opposed to grass like in the past, this has increased the risk of e coli.

Ecotourism is also another factor affecting the rise of zoonoses in the modern world (Armengaud, 2012). With ecotourism, the rate of interaction and contact with wild animals has increased and this is also another factor which has led to the increase of zoonotic infections. In cahoots with this, international touring is also another main factor which has affected the increase of zoonotic infection among the human population. Agriculture, animal food products and zoonotic infections Agriculture has been one of the main factors affecting the spread of zoonotic infections.

For instance, some zoonoses infect the human body through the consumption of food products which are derived from infected animals (Shakespeare, 2002). A good example of this is Brucellosis which a human being can get from using untreated dairy products from a cow which is carrying agents which cause the disease. Toxoplasmosis is another example of a zoonotic disease which gets to the human body through the consumption of animal products from infected animals (Hugh Hubber & Hagstad, 2008). According Human Conditions and Diseases (NA), toxoplasmosis can have very critical results to a patient especially those with a weakened immune system such as those suffering from the HIV-caused AIDS.

According to Palmer and Simpson (1998), this zoonotic disease is also more dangerous to pregnant woman because when a pregnant woman is affected, the child can also be infected thus leading to various health complications to the child. Other zoonotic infections such as trichinosis get to a person if they consume animal products especially from pigs such as hum, sausages etc which are infected with the eggs of trichinella. Trichinosis, according to Acha and Szyfres (2001), is however treatable using medications but has to be treated as early as possible to avoid irrevocable damage.

Some zoonotic diseases such as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), although it was first transferred from non human primates are now mainly transferred from one human to the other rather than from the animals to human beings (Rabinowitz & Conti, 2001). The effect to human begins Studies indicate that over sixty five percent of pathogens which cause illnesses in the human body are zoonotic. Zoonoses as Barbour (2004) says, therefore affect human health in very fundamental ways and must be looked in a very critical ways by all involved parties such as doctors, public health workers, veterinarians etc.

These kinds of infections and others such as yellow fever also affect human transport and travel because people from various regions in the world are not allowed to travel unless they are vaccinated against these infections such as yellow fever. Outbreak of various zoonotic diseases may also disrupt global travel and transport as people from various regions are barred from international travel until the outbreak is contained. Most zoonotic infections are however treatable and the method of treatment of each zoonotic infection is dependent on the particular infections (Burroughs, Knobler & Lederberg, 2002).

Reference list Acha, P.N. & Szyfres, B. (2001). Zoonoses Volume 1. New York, NY: Pan American Health Org. Armengaud, A. (2012). Environmental Changes & Human Health 2012: Zoonotic and Vector-borne diseases. New York, NY: John Libbey Eurotext. Barbour, E. (2004). Zoonoses and the contribution of disease-free pets to human health: a guide for pet owners. New Delhi: Thajema Publishers. Burroughs, T., Knobler, S., & Lederberg, J. (2002). The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases: Understanding the Impact on Animal and Human Health - Workshop Summary.

New York, NY: National Academies Press. Hugh, M.E. Hubber, W.T., & Hagsta, H.V. (2008). Zoonoses: Recognition, Control, and Prevention. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Human Conditions and Diseases. (NA). Human Conditions and Diseases. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from Zoonoses: http://www.humanillnesses.com/Infectious-Diseases-Sk-Z/Zoonoses.html Maddocks, S. (2012, July 30). Doctors and vets unite against zoonoses. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from Medical Journal of Australia: https://www.mja.com.au/insight/2012/29/doctors-and-vets-unite-against-zoonoses Palmer, S.R. & Simpson, H.D. (1998).

Zoonoses: biology, clinical practice, and public health control. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rabinowitz, P.M. & Conti, L.A. (2001). Human-Animal Medicine: Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and Other Shared Health Risks. Hoboken, NJ: Elsevier Health Sciences. Shakespeare, M. (2002). Zoonoses. London: Pharmaceutical Press.