Control of zoonoses in Britain: past, present, and future.

Abstract

In the past zoonoses that caused serious human illness also caused serious loss of animal production, but there is growing awareness of the public health problems arising from infections that cause little or no such loss. Much can be learnt from the history of the control of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis. In both cases there was reluctance to accept that animals were the principal cause of infection, and the earliest attempts at control failed because measures were taken only against clinical cases of the disease. The essential features in control of both infections were: official recognition of a problem, willingness of governments to allocate resources, and cooperation between the medical and veterinary professions. Salmonellosis is the most important zoonotic infection in Britain today, though several Orders have reduced the reservoir of infection in food animals.It is suggested that a national team of doctors should be set up to investigate and control zoonoses, that this team should be answerable to a central agency, and that it should build up close working relationships with the nominated officers of the veterinary profession.

Occupational exposure to Brucella spp.: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Moreover, the increased amount of publications from the 1980's could be associated with the growing importance of the disease in humans and the development of new diagnostic techniques. In fact, the oldest publications selected were from countries that have implemented their animal brucellosis control and prevention programs in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, such as the United States and Canada, in the Americas, and Great Britain, in Western Europe [81][82][83]. On the other hand, some countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, although presenting endemic animal brucellosis, have not yet reached satisfactory levels of disease control and often report insufficient data on the true prevalence of the infection in humans and animals.…”

Epidemiological aspects of human cryptosporidiosis

“…Infection in some cases extends beyond the gastrointestinal tract [32,159]. The importance of close collaboration between veterinary and medical workers for the control of zoonoses has been emphasised [202]. Much has been learned from such collaboration about Cryptosporidium and human cryptosporidiosis.…”

Perspectives on Emerging Zoonotic Disease Research and Capacity Building in Canada

“…Initial attempts to control zoonoses such as salmonellosis and bovine tuberculosis failed because measures were taken only against clinical cases of the disease (7). Current traditional public health and herd medicine methods have effective techniques to manage endemic zoonoses.…”