Zoonotic diseases: Can the transmission of pathogens between animals and humans be controlled?

Abstract

After being associated with more than six million deaths so far, the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the worst diseases of animal origin known to date. Other zoonotic diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (2002–2004, which mainly affected China), Middle East respiratory syndrome (2012, mainly affecting the Middle East), Ebola (2013–2016 in West Africa), and Rift Valley fever (from 2016 to the present) have also caused major disease outbreaks in recent decades. In addition, and especially in low-income countries, some zoonotic diseases such as tuberculosis and rabies are endemic and cause thousands of deaths. Of note, up to 60 % of known infectious diseases and 75 % of emerging infectious diseases have an animal origin and are responsible for public health problems and economic losses.