Emergence of epidemic diseases: zoonoses and other origins

Abstract

Infectious diseases emerge via many routes and may need to overcome stepwise bottlenecks to burgeon into epidemics and pandemics. About 60% of human infections have animal origins, whereas 40% either co-evolved with humans or emerged from non-zoonotic environmental sources. Although the dynamic interaction between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans is important for the surveillance of zoonotic potential, exotic origins tend to be overemphasized since many zoonoses come from anthropophilic wild species (for example, rats and bats). We examine the equivocal evidence of whether the appearance of novel infections is accelerating and relate technological developments to the risk of novel disease outbreaks. Then we briefly compare selected epidemics, ancient and modern, from the Plague of Athens to COVID-19.

The role of veterinary diagnostic laboratories during COVID-19 response in the United States

“…More than 60% of human infectious diseases have a zoonotic origin, which underscores the urgent need to promote animal and human diagnostic collaboration under the One Health umbrella in preparation for future pandemics. [23] Colleges and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network member laboratories in the United States.…”

Editorial: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - advances in epidemiology, diagnostics, treatments, host-directed therapies, pathogenesis, vaccines, and ongoing challenges

“…The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a major threat to public health security, so do other respiratory infections, such as TB, influenza, fungal and AMR. Whilst COVID-19 still dominates the global public health agenda, the world needs to refocus attention on all respiratory tract infections which have been neglected ever since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic [11][12][13][14]. New ways of working through alignment of health services and utilizing the latest in diagnostics screening simultaneously for COVID-19, tuberculosis, and other bacterial and viral causes of respiratory tract Infections to screen, confirm, and initiate patients on specific treatment is required.…”

Situation analysis on the roles and risks of wildlife in the emergence of human infectious diseases

“…intra-host pathogen changes) may be impossible to predict and there is little that can be done beyond general prevention strategies. Weiss et al (2022) showed high impact human infections in 2020 including; zoonotic origin, zoonosis or non-zoonosis infections causing mortality. These include important endemic infectious diseases of humans like tuberculosis, contemporary emergent infections (HIV/AIDs) and recent pandemics (COVID-19 and Candida auris) which have caused millions and hundreds of thousands of deaths.…”