The recent pandemic has brought a renewed focus on the dangers of zoonotic pathogens, infectious agents that can jump from animals to humans. In response, three major organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health, and the United Nations Environment Programme, have issued fresh guidelines for governments around the world to follow. These guidelines aim to minimize the risk of transmission in food production and marketing chains.
Zoonosis and Its Impact
Zoonosis is an infectious disease that originates in non-human animals and can infect humans. The pathogens causing these diseases can be bacteria, viruses, or parasites, spreading to humans through direct contact or indirectly via food, water, and environmental factors.
Animals, especially wild ones, are the source of over 70% of all emerging infectious diseases in humans. Many of these are caused by previously unknown viruses. Diseases such as Lassa fever, Marburg hemorrhagic fever, Nipah viral infections, and other viral diseases all have origins in wildlife.
Problems occur when traditional food markets permit the sale and slaughter of live animals, especially wild ones, in public areas. These environments provide ample opportunities for animal viruses, including coronaviruses, to multiply and find new hosts, including humans.
WHO’s New Guidelines
The WHO has proposed a set of guidelines to counter this risk. These include implementing emergency regulations to suspend the sales of live wild animals in traditional food markets and conducting risk assessments to develop regulatory controls for potential zoonotic transmission from both farmed and caught wild animals.
The guidelines also emphasize adequate training for food inspectors to ensure businesses comply with regulations designed to protect consumer health. Additionally, they advocate for enhanced surveillance systems for zoonotic pathogens.
Zoonotic Diseases in India
India is among the top global hotspots for zoonotic diseases, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Major public health zoonotic diseases in India include rabies, brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis, Japanese encephalitis, plague, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, Nipah, trypanosomiasis, Kyasanur forest disease, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
The country faces several challenges in managing these diseases. A large human population frequently interacts with animals, and poverty forces many to rely on animal rearing for livelihood. This intimate human-animal contact increases the risk of zoonotic diseases. Moreover, a significant segment of the population is not aware of basic hygiene practices.
Additionally, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat. AMR occurs when infectious agents evolve and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of spread and severity of illness, including death.
Measures Taken
India has launched various programmes under the National Centre for Disease Control in response to these challenges. These include the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, the National Programme for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance, the National Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Programme, and efforts to strengthen inter-sectoral coordination for prevention and control of Zoonotic Diseases of Public Health Importance. There are also specific programmes for controlling rabies and leptospirosis.
Experts have emphasized the necessity of the “One Health” framework in the country. One Health represents a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach, linking human, animal, and environmental health, offering a holistic solution to the issue of zoonotic diseases.