Neglected and endemic zoonoses

Abstract

Endemic zoonoses are found throughout the developing world, wherever people live in close proximity to their animals, affecting not only the health of poor people but often also their livelihoods through the health of their livestock. Unlike newly emerging zoonoses that attract the attention of the developed world, these endemic zoonoses are by comparison neglected. This is, in part, a consequence of under-reporting, resulting in underestimation of their global burden, which in turn artificially downgrades their importance in the eyes of administrators and funding agencies. The development of cheap and effective vaccines is no guarantee that these endemic diseases will be eliminated in the near future. However, simply increasing awareness about their causes and how they may be prevented-often with very simple technologies-could reduce the incidence of many endemic zoonoses. Sustainable control of zoonoses is reliant on surveillance, but, as with other public-sector animal health services, this is rarely implemented in the developing world, not least because of the lack of sufficiently cheap diagnostics. Public -private partnerships have already provided advocacy for human disease control and could be equally effective in addressing endemic zoonoses.

Zoonotic and Non-Zoonotic Diseases in Relation to Human Personality and Societal Values: Support for the Parasite-Stress Model

“…Some zoonotics, however, may escape surveillance by these agencies (e.g., Maudlin, Eisler and Welburn, 2009). One way to address this alternative explanation empirically is to show that the zoonotic parasite-richness index is measured with sufficient fidelity to predict additional outcome variables to which it is conceptually related-such as the presence of livestock within a country.…”

The roles of livestock in developing countries

“…Endemic zoonoses that prevail in poor countries are among the most neglected diseases. To give just one example, echinococcosis is responsible for 1 million lost DALYs in addition to human-associated economic losses (including medical costs, wage losses) estimated at US$1.9 billion and livestock losses of US$2.1 billion (Maudlin et al, 2009). Sleeping sickness, rabies, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, brucellosis and leptospirosis are other zoonoses of similar importance, which also have livestock reservoirs.…”

CD8 + T Cell Exhaustion, Suppressed Gamma Interferon Production, and Delayed Memory Response Induced by Chronic Brucella melitensis Infection

“…rucellosis caused by Brucella melitensis has a high incidence in developing countries, and the World Health Organization considers brucellosis one of the seven neglected zoonoses, a group of diseases that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty (1,2). Brucella has many mechanisms to survive and replicate in hostile host cells, including inducing the unfolded-protein response (UPR), hijacking host nutrients, and counteracting the effects of pH changes, among many others (3)(4)(5)(6).…”