Animal
diseases impact food supplies, trade and commerce, and human health
and well-being in every part of the world. Outbreaks draw the attention
of those in agriculture, regulatory agencies, and government, as
well as the general public. This was demonstrated by the 2000-2001
foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that occurred in Europe,
South America, Asia and Africa and by the recent increased occurrence
of emerging diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Examples
of these emerging zoonotic diseases are highly pathogenic avian
influenza, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, West Nile virus and
severe acute respiratory syndrome. There is also the risk of well-known
and preventable zoonotic diseases, such as rabies, brucellosis,
leishmaniasis, and echinococcosis/hydatidosis, in certain countries;
these diseases have a high morbidity with the potential for a very
high mortality. Animal agriculturalists should have a global disease
awareness of disease risks and develop plans of action to deal with
them; in order to better respond to these diseases, they should
develop the skills and competencies in politics, media interactions,
and community engagement. This issue of Veterinaria Italiana
presents information on the risk of animal diseases; their impact
on animals and humans at the international, national, industry,
and societal levels; and the responses to them. In addition, specific
information is provided on national and international disease monitoring,
surveillance and reporting, the risk of spread of disease by bioterrorism
and on import risk analysis.
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