Zoonosis

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Anthropozoonoses (zoonoses) are infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans.

Tick ​​of the species Ixodes ricinus - the most common transmitter of borreliosis to humans

A person can become the target of these infections during their stay in nature, in contact with an infected or dead animal or its parts (furs, feces). Pets are also a major source of infection. Another example is farms where a person is exposed to cattle and is thus at risk of infection. Carriers can be, for example, arthropods (ticks, mosquitoes, fleas, lice), mammals, birds, fish.

Transmission[edit | edit source]

The infectious agent comes into contact with humans in various ways (blood-sucking insects, food contamination...). Transmission occurs through direct contact, ingestion, inhalation, via inanimate media (sapronosis) or living vectors.

Entrance gates
  • skin – transmission by mere contact or penetration of the pathogen into a small abrasion,
  • mucous membrane – most often by pathogen respiration (respiratory tract) and food contamination (digestive tract),
  • blood – blood-sucking insects can release pathogens when sucking blood (Plasmodium in the saliva of Anopheles mosquitoes),
  • trauma – in case of a deeper injury, the pathogen is introduced into the wound (bite in rabies).

Etiology[edit | edit source]

Campylobacteriosis is the most common cause of bacterial diarrhea in the Czech Republic.

Etiological agents include viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and prions.

The most common zoonoses in our country:

  • salmonellosis (Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium; poorly cooked meat or eggs),
  • campylobacteriosis (Campylobacter jejuni; poorly cooked poultry - grilled chickens),
  • yersiniosis,
  • toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii; ingestion of oocysts in cat feces, poorly cooked meat of the intermediate host),
  • tularemia (Francisella tularensis; mosquito, tick, handling of infected hare / rabbit, etc.),
  • leptospirosis (dangerous for humans are Leptospira r. interrogans, Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae; transmitted by rats, with their urine it enters both stagnant waters and food, the possibility of infection from sick animals by scratching or biting),
  • listeriosis,
  • ornithosis,
  • toxocariasis (Toxocara cati, Toxocara canis; food contaminated with cat or dog faeces),
  • teniosis,
  • erysipeloid,
  • cat scratch disease (Bartonella henselae).

Between arthropod-borne diseases we include for example:

  • Lyme disease;
  • tick-borne encephalitis;
  • ehrlichiosis – 1) human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (LGE) – (Anaplasma phagocytophila; tick carrier), 2) human monocytic ehrlichiosis (LME) – (Anaplasma Chafeensis; tick carrier). Ehrlichiosis is 4 times more common in men than in women.
  • tularemia;
  • leishmaniasis – cutaneous, mucocutaneous, visceral forms. The life cycle of leishmaniasis occurs between humans and mosquitoes of the genus Phlebotomus.

Brucellosis was completely suppressed in our country (mainly due to improved hygiene). Also rabies has not been proven in our country since 2002.

Links[edit | edit source]

Related articles[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  • CHALUPA, P. Zoonózy [online]. ©2005. Poslední revize 2006-01-30, [cit. 2009-12-16]. <http://www1.lf1.cuni.cz/~hrozs/zoopch1.htm>.