Summary
In emergency situations, domestic animals and wildlife are, like
people, exposed to infectious diseases and environmental contaminants
in the air, soil, water and food. They can suffer from acute and/or
chronic diseases from such exposure. Often animals serve as disease
reservoirs or early warning systems for the community in regard
to the spread of zoonotic diseases. Over 100 years of experience
have shown that animal and human health are closely related. During
the past few years, emergent disease episodes have increased; nearly
all have involved zoonotic agents. As there is no way to predict
when or where the next important new zoonotic pathogen will emerge
or what its ultimate importance might be, investigation at the first
sign of emergence of a new zoonotic disease is particularly important.
Today, in many emerging situations, different activities involving
zoonotic disease control are at risk because of failed investigative
infrastructures or financial constraints. Considering that zoonotic
diseases have their own characteristics, their prevention and control
require unique strategies, based more on fundamental and applied
research than on traditional approaches. Such strategies require
cooperation and coordination between animal and public health sectors
and the involvement of other disciplines and experts such as epidemiologists,
entomologists, environmentalists and climatologists. Lessons learned
from the avian influenza pandemic threat, the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic
fever and rabies outbreaks are presented and the gaps and weakness
of current control programmes are discussed.
Keywords
Animal,
Control, Disease, Emergency, Outbreak, Public health, Zoonoses.
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