Zoonotic Diseases: Threat to Human Life

Zoonotic Diseases: Threat to Human Life

Important for Prelims:

United Nations Environment Programme' (UNEP), International Livestock Research Institute, COVID-19 Pandemic, Zoonotic Diseases-AIDS, Rabies, Ebola Corona Virus, Scabies, Brucellosis, Swine Flu, Dengue, Bird Flu, Nipah, Glanders Salmonellosis, Monkey Fever, Monkey pox, plaque, hepatitis E, foot fever, tuberculosis, Zika virus, SARS disease.

Important for Mains:

GS-3: Zoonotic diseases: Global scenario, factors leading to increase in zoonotic diseases, solutions.

November 21, 2023

Context:

In the year 2023, a report titled 'Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of Transmission' in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic was released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

  • This report refers to the nature and impact of zoonotic diseases on humans. According to this report, 60 percent of the diseases spreading among humans are animal-borne.

Zoonotic diseases:

  • Zoonotic diseases are spread by animals to humans through bacteria, viruses or parasites etc.
    • HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Malaria, Rabies and Corona Virus, Scabies, Brucellosis, Swine Flu, Dengue, Bird Flu, Nipah, Glanders Salmonellosis, Monkey Fever, Monkey Pox, Plaque, Hepatitis E, Foot Fever, Tuberculosis, Zika Viruses, SARS etc. are Zoonotic diseases.

Global Scenario:

According to the ‘State of the World Forest’ report 2022,

  • In terms of new zoonotic diseases, India and China have emerged as the biggest 'hotspots'.
  • Animal-borne diseases are increasing rapidly in low-middle income countries. Every year around the world one million people die due to animal-borne diseases. At present more than two hundred animal-borne diseases have been detected.

Warning:

  • According to researchers, by 2050, such infections could cause twelve times more deaths than the number of deaths caused by COVID in 2020.

Modern Cause of Death

  • According to the British Medical Journal, the majority of modern causes of death worldwide are zoonotic infections.

Virus is a threat to human health:

  • Researchers, using 3,150 cells and several epidemics, identified four virus groups that had the potential to pose a major threat to public health and economic and political stability.
  • These include Philo virus (Ebola, Marwar), SARS corona virus 1, Nipah virus and Machupi virus under the dangerous virus group.

zoonotic disease

AIDS:

  • American and British researchers have discovered the viruses responsible for AIDS in monkeys of Africa. According to researchers, the virus probably entered the chimpanzee when it consumed the monkey's contaminated meat.
  • According to notable studies, the HIV virus originated from the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), which is found in chimpanzees. Researchers had studied the genetic makeup of several strains of HIV present in monkeys in Africa.
  • In conclusion, only two strains are responsible for HIV, which are found in chimpanzees in Africa. That means AIDS is an animal-borne disease.

AIDS related issues:

According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP),

  • Every day in the world, more than twenty thousand people become victims of AIDS and more than twelve thousand people die from this disease.
  • 90 percent of AIDS affected people are from developing countries. So far, more than 2 crore 50 lakh deaths have occurred due to AIDS.
  • The number of AIDS patients in the world is more than six crores. Of these, more than one million people are from Arab countries, and most are from Sudan.
  • UN AIDS experts in Singapore had warned that AIDS had taken a catastrophic form in the world's two most densely populated countries - China and India.
  • According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the AIDS disease has taken an explosive form in Cambodia in the Asian continent.

Rabies:

  • Rabies alone accounts for 36 percent of all dog bite deaths globally.
  • In India, about twenty thousand people die every year due to rabies.

Ebola:

  • Most of the countries of the African continent have been affected by this animal-borne disease. The African continent is home to large swathes of the world's rainforests as well as the world's fastest growing population, leading to increased cases of infection through contact between animals, wildlife and humans.

 

Factors of increase in zoonotic diseases:

  • In this report, the following seven factors have been held responsible for the increase in zoonotic diseases:
    • Increasing demand for animal protein,
    • increase in intensive and unsustainable farming,
    • Increasing use and exploitation of wildlife,
    • Sustainable use of natural resources,
    • Travel and transportation,
    • Changes in food supply chains and
    • Climate change.
  • Currently, stray animals are the biggest causes of animal-borne diseases.

Solution:

In the future, the following ways may help prevent animal-borne infections:

  • Investment in ‘health initiatives’ should be emphasized in multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary ways.
  • To promote scientific research on animal-borne infections/diseases,
  • Emphasis on increasing awareness about animal-borne diseases,
  • To improve the cost-benefit analysis of response to diseases and to analyze the spread of diseases on society.
  • Strengthening surveillance and regulatory methods of zoonotic diseases,
  • Promote land management sustainability and develop alternative measures to enhance food security, so as to conserve habitats and biodiversity.
  • To improve biosecurity and control, identify the causes of diseases in animal husbandry and promote appropriate control measures.
  • Supporting the sustainability of landscapes to promote the co-existence of agriculture and wildlife,
  • Strengthening the capacities of health sector stakeholders in all countries,
  • Conducting a health approach to land-use and sustainable development planning, implementation and monitoring in other areas. Also, the most important thing is to provide support to the stray animals.
  • To get rid of zoonotic diseases, there is a need to coordinate between wildlife and the ecosystem.

Conclusion:

  • Global pandemics are destroying both human lives and economies. Animal-borne diseases have the greatest impact on poor and vulnerable communities. Therefore, there is a greater need to consider protecting our natural environment to prevent future pandemics. Modern innovations in science and technology, such as vaccination and other health methods, can prevent the spread of animal-borne diseases so that they do not develop into other pandemics like COVID-19.

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Mains Exam Question

Globally, zoonotic epidemics are destroying both human lives and economies. Discuss.