Know Your Risk: What is a Zoonotic Disease?
Know Your Risk: What is a Zoonotic Disease?
Length: 00:02:20 | Erika Machtinger
Vector-borne diseases are those that are caused by pathogens transmitted by a vector which in many cases is an insect or other arthropod. These can also be considered zoonotic diseases if they are maintained in animal populations. This video helps you learn more about what a zoonotic disease is. Understanding more about zoonotic diseases can help you protect yourself from vector bites which may transmit pathogens causing disease.
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- If vector-borne diseases are caused by pathogens transmitted by vectors, what are zoonotic diseases?
Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, originate from the Greek words zoo, meaning animal, and noses, meaning disease.
Zoonoses are diseases caused by pathogens that jump from vertebrate animals to humans.
These diseases are generally maintained in animal populations such as bats, rodents, monkeys, livestock, or birds.
In some cases, zoonotic diseases can also be vector-borne diseases.
An example of a zoonotic disease is West Nile virus.
West Nile virus is naturally maintained in wild birds, but sometimes an infected mosquito can bite a human and cause West Nile virus encephalitis, so that makes this zoonotic disease also a vector-borne disease.
Over 60% of known human pathogens are zoonotic, and over 75% of emerging or newly discovered pathogens are zoonotic.
Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is an example of a zoonotic disease caused by a pathogen of animal origin that spread to humans through a spillover infection, which is transmission from non-human animals to human.
COVID-19 is not a vector-borne disease.
COVID-19 is largely accepted to be primarily spread by the virus in respiratory droplets being transmitted person to person from exposure while talking, sneezing, or coughing.
Zoonotic infections are becoming more common and have serious human impacts.
Understanding what these pathogens are, which are vector-borne, and how to protect yourself is important to reduce your risk of infection.
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