How are zoonotic diseases transmitted from animals to humans?
Of the 1415 microbes known to cause infectious disease in humans, over 60 per cent are able to be transmitted from animals to people. This can happen either by direct contact, from an environment contaminated by animals or by the handling and/or consumption of contaminated food products. Both domestic and wild animals carry bacteria, viruses and parasites. Companion animals such as dogs, cats, and birds; the animals we eat such as cattle and poultry, as well as the animals we work with (in farms, zoos and laboratories) and those we encounter during our leisure time (such as horses, pigeons, wildlife), can all carry disease that can infect us and potentially cause conditions such as food poisoning, fever, paralysis and in extreme cases, even death.
