Earlier blogs focused on rabies, which is a zoonotic disease.
Zoonotic diseases—virus, bacteria, fungus, and parasites—are diseases that can spread between wildlife, domestic animals, and people.
While television,newspapers, and magazines often carry stories about international zoonotic outbreaks, fewer stories focus on zoonotic diseases in just the United States. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that zoonotic diseases sicken tens of thousands of Americans annually. In fact, CDC reports that six out of every ten infectious diseases in people are zoonotic.1
In 2017, specialists from the Centers for Disease Control, other U.S. government agencies, and state health departments conducted a workshop. They focused on assessing which zoonotic diseases are of most concern for public health in the United States. The scientists released their report in May 2019.1,2 Based on their analyses, the zoonotic diseases in of most concern are zoonotic influenza, salmonellosis, West Nile virus, plague, emerging coronaviruses (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome),3, 4 rabies, brucellosis, and Lyme disease.
CDC reports that people can be infected by zoonotic diseases by (1) direct contact with animal saliva, blood, urine, mucus or other body fluids; (2) indirect contact—touching or handling contaminated objects, plants, soil, water, or dishes; (3) being bitten by infected mosquitos or other insects, fleas, or ticks; or (4) eating contaminated foods or drinking water or liquids—for example, unpasteurized milk or cheeses, undercooked meat, or eggs, or fruits and vegetables contaminated by feces from infected animals.5
As teenagers, my brother and I both developed keen interests in wildlife. Growing up in Eastern Kansas in the 1950s and 1960s, we routinely fished, hunted, and trapped. During the spring and summers, we gardened, fished, and hunted bullfrogs. In the fall, we hunted quail, pheasants, rabbits, and squirrels. We cleaned and processed fish, frogs, and some small game, and my mother cooked them, and we ate them. In winter, we trapped muskrats, beavers, raccoons, opossums, skunks, minks, and other wildlife for their pelts. We grew up with dogs, ducks, toads,frogs, lizards, and snakes as pets.
Our dad cautioned us about rabbit fever and other wildlife diseases. My dad had learned about disease basics when he completed mortician school and licensing in 1940, and as a Navy medic during World War II.
When skinning and handling wildlife, my dad always had us wear what he called “surgeon’s gloves.” He bought the gloves, which were made of thin rubber, from the local drug stores. After we processed our game, we’d remove the gloves, wash our hands with hot soapy water, and then rinse them with rubbing alcohol.
Processing fish and wildlife piqued our curiosity and sparked our interest in biology. Both of us completed bachelor’s degrees in biology, and then graduate degrees. At Kansas State University, I completed a degree in wildlife biology and completed courses in zoology, microbiology, genetics, ecology, wildlife management, wildlife diseases, and related subjects. That training sparked my interest in diseases, health, environmental, and related subjects and provided the needed skills for searching the scientific literature for information about specific diseases. I enjoyed interviewing scientists.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, my Ph.D. focused on investigating human communication research, and my research has concentrated on exploring health, science, agriculture, and technical communication.
For future blogs, I will research diverse health, environmental, and related topics. In those blogs, I will report on details to help readers develop a deeper understanding of zoonotic diseases, health, and environmental issues.
Notes & Resources
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). 8 Zoonotic diseases shared between animals and people
of most concern in the U.S.https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/s0506-zoonotic-diseases-shared.html Accessed 27 October 2019.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019).U.S. One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization. https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/domestic-activities/us-ohzdp.html. Accessed 27 October 2019.
3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Coronavirus, CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html. Accessed 27 October 2019.
4 Kruse, H., Kirkemo, A-K, Handeland. (2004). Wildlife as Source of Zoonotic Infections. Emerging infectious Diseases. 2004 Dec.
10(12):2067-2072. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3323390/ Accessed 27 October 2019.
5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019).One Health. Zoonotic Diseases. https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html Accessed 8 November 2019.
Past Blogs
Blog # 1. A Closer Look at Rabies
Blog # 2. Do You Have A Rabid Animal in Your Yard?
Blog # 3 How to Protect Yourself and Your Children from Rabies?
Blog # 4. If You’ve Been Exposed to Rabies, What Is the Treatment?