According to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, viral zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases which can be transmitted from animals to humans. The modes of transmission include contact, inhalation, bites or through the conjunctiva in the eye. Indirect contact through contaminated food and water is also possible. Emerging viral zoonotic diseases are those caused by relatively new disease-causing agents, or pathogens. Emerging viral zoonotic diseases can roughly be classified according to their predominant clinical presentation.
Viral Zoonotic Encephalitides
Some viral diseases transmitted through animals share the general symptom of encephalitis, or brain inflammation. According to the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, these emerging infectious diseases include West Nile virus encephalitis, California encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Eastern equine encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis virus, Kyasanur forest virus, LaCross virus encephalitis and St. Louis virus encephalitis.
Viral Zoonotic Hemorrhagic Diseases
Viruses in this group lead to diseases that cause bleeding disorders, leading to hemorrhaging, or blood flow, from the various openings of the body and into internal organs. These viruses are particularly important for their potential uses as agents of bio-terrorism.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever occupies a whole branch in the Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases of the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases, operated under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Viral zoonotic hemorrhagic diseases on the NIAID priority list are yellow fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Chikungunya virus, Hendra virus and Nipah virus hemorrhagic fever. Other hemorrhagic zoonoses on the NIAID list are Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Marburg hemorrhagic fever, Hanta-virus hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever, Lassa fever, Lymphocytic chorio-meningitis virus, hemorrhagic fever, Junin virus or Argentine hemorrhagic fever, Machupo virus or Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, and Guanarito virus.
Other Viral Zoonotic Diseases
These illnesses largely manifest as respiratory illnesses, joint pains or arthralgias, rashes or other organ-specific symptoms. Unlike the two previous groups that are usually spread through arthropods like mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, these are typically spread by direct contact and inhalation of droppings from animals. The viral zoonotic diseases in this group from the NIAID list are avian influenza or bird flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, porcine hepatitis E, rabies and bat lyssavirus. The CDC also includes O’nyong nyong fever and human monkeypox in the list of emerging viral zoonotic diseases.
References
- MedlinePlus: Animal Diseases and Your Health
- National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases
- CDC: Emerging Human Infectious Diseases: Anthroponoses, Zoonoses, and Sapronoses
- Univ. of S. Carolina SOM/Microbiology and Immunology Online: Arboviruses
- Univ. of S. C. SOM: Microbiology and Immunology Online: Arboviruses: Rodent Borne
