The Health Burden of Orphan Zoonotic Disease in the United Kingdom, 2005–2009

Abstract

'Orphan' zoonotic diseases attract disproportionately low scientific and public health attention for the impact that they can have. This article pulls together information on their health burden in the UK from routine and enhanced data sources. These diseases are heterogeneous in nature; some have very low case numbers (e.g. hydatid disease), whilst others affect hundreds of patients each year (e.g. toxoplasmosis). The number of deaths attributed to orphan zoonoses is relatively low, and the majority recorded in this article were caused by toxoplasmosis. There is a clear issue of under-reporting and under-diagnosis in the data sets presented, and further work should be carried out to obtain more accurate estimates of the prevalence of zoonotic infections. Joint human and veterinary studies are especially important for these diseases.

High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)

“…Wild boar meat is a potential source of T. gondii infection in humans. Due to the recent significant increase in the wild boar population in Europe and the expansion of its habitat, it poses an increasing public health concern [ 13 , 15 , 17 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. This study was carried out to assess the status of T. gondii prevalence in the Slovenian wild boar population, to determine its potential as a reservoir for human infection, and to evaluate potential risk factors based on sex, age, weight, and harvest location.…”

Global Distribution of Alveolar and Cystic Echinococcosis

“…Nevertheless, generally human CE has been decreasing in incidence in the UK. Between 2005 and 2009, 52 cases were reported as confirmed CE (0.03/10 5 per year), although many of these cases were diagnosed in immigrants (Halsby et al, 2014 Ireland is believed to be nonendemic for E. granulosus and no reports of autochthonous cases of CE have been registered, although it is endemic for E. equinus (Torgerson and Budke, 2003). p0920…”

The significance of education in the preparedness for zoonotic diseases

“…To address the prevention of human diseases is necessary to first focus on addressing what is happening in the animal kingdom. In the years past, most of the numerous main human epidemics infectious diseases that caused morbidity and mortality worldwide are transmitted from animal to human either directly or indirectly through products of animal origin [45], so a better and more precise knowledge and understanding with a solid awareness of the implications of zoonotic diseases to public health may result to improvement in surveillance and intervention systems for prevention and control [46,47].…”