Animals as Sentinels of Bioterrorism Agents

Rabinowitz, Peter; Gordon, Zimra; Chudnov, Daniel; Wilcox, Matthew; Odofin, Lynda; Liu, Ann; Dein, Joshua

doi:10.3201/eid1204.051120

Cited by 76 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…Human food chain contamination must be considered for the affected cattle, since these animals were destined for eventual human consumption. Collaboration between the medical and veterinary medical communities will allow more advantageous use of domestic animals as sentinels [1].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historically, domestic animals have been used as sentinels for toxic and infectious diseases [1,2] and more specifically are known to play a critical role in defining human lead exposure as both sentinels and, in the case of food animals, sources of the toxicant [3][4][5]. The ability of animals to provide this early warning relies on communication between medical and veterinary medical communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animals as Sentinels for Human Lead Exposure: A Case Report

Bischoff

Priest

Mount-Long³

2010

J. Med. Toxicol.

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Because human and nonhuman animals often share the same environment, there is potential concurrent exposure to toxicants. As a result, domestic animals can be used as sentinels for exposure of people to these agents. Here we present a case illustrating exposure of both humans and domestic animals to lead contamination in their environments. This case study occurred at a farm where cattle deaths were determined to have been caused by lead poisoning based on elevated postmortem tissue lead concentrations. Elevated blood lead concentrations were detected in the remaining cattle, a dog, a cat, and a pregnant woman (37.3µg/dL) living on the farm. The range of blood lead concentrations in the domestic animals was 8.42 (cat) to 85.41µg/dL (calf), although clinical signs of lead poisoning were not apparent in these animals. Further testing revealed the most likely source for lead exposure to be paint in the barn and home.Household dogs and cats have been used as sentinels for lead poisoning in humans, but cattle may also act as a sentinel species for environmental lead contamination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animals as Sentinels for Human Lead Exposure: A Case Report

Bischoff

Priest

Mount-Long³

2010

J. Med. Toxicol.

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“…Because many of the bioterrorism pathogens are causes of zoonoses (diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans), an environmental release of a biologic agent could initially present with illness in animals [25]. Partnering with veterinarians and veterinary diagnostic laboratories is therefore an important step in building capacity for bioterrorism detection.…”

Section: Reporting By Novel Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveillance for agents of bioterrorism in the USA

Danila

Fleischauer

2013

Infectious Disease Surveillance

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“…avian influenza virus [29] and arboviruses [30]). A recent analysis [31] reviewed the potential of animals as sentinels of bioterrorism agents, concluding that "for certain bioterrorism agents, pets, wildlife, or livestock could provide early warning" of an attack.…”

Section: Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for Human Illness from Animal Transmission or Food‐Borne Pathogens

Hartley

2008

Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security

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Theoretically, human illness could result accidentally in a biological attack aimed at domestic livestock, or as the intended outcome of a bioterrorist utilizing animal species, food, or foodstuffs to specifically target human populations. The number and diversity of agents, modes of transmission, disease ecologies, and illnesses and outcomes form a vast zoonotic and food‐borne disease “threat space” against which we must defend. In this brief resume, we describe the diversity of zoonotic and food‐borne threats and observe that most of these remain poorly characterized from an analytical viewpoint. Options for control exist for many of these diseases, but often the options are problematic. Significant gaps exist in terms of prophylactic and therapeutic agents for the majority of these diseases. Methodologies exist that can be applied to identify and analyze potential public health prevention and response strategies and to guide future research. Although programmatic opportunities exist for pursuing such research, much remains to be done.

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Animals as Sentinels of Bioterrorism Agents

Abstract: Pets, wildlife, or livestock could provide early warning.

Cited by 76 publications

References 34 publications

Animals as Sentinels for Human Lead Exposure: A Case Report

Animals as Sentinels for Human Lead Exposure: A Case Report

Surveillance for agents of bioterrorism in the USA

Potential for Human Illness from Animal Transmission or Food‐Borne Pathogens

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