Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Epizootics
Why are epidemiologists sometimes interested in epizootics?
"Epidemics in animals are called epizootics" (Epizootics, 2012, University of Liverpool). The evolution of epidemics in animal populations can mirror the spread of disease in humans, or the diseases in animals can present features of interest to epidemiologists because of their potential to pass diseases to humans through contact or consumption. Examples of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans include foot and mouth disease, rabies, and 'mad cow' disease. For example, in foot and mouth disease, animals can spread the disease to other organisms through salvia, milk and dung manure and blood. In the case of foot and mouth, "Animals start to excrete the virus even before the symptoms appear and so may pass it on to many others before anyone realises that they are infected" (Epizootics, 2012, University of Liverpool). This can cause the disease to spread extremely rapidly. And although, as the name suggests, the disease primarily affects cloven-footed animals, it can also be spread to humans
Epizootics can be extremely costly for livestock owners as well as dangerous for humans. During the 2001-foot and mouth epidemic in Great...
Understanding epizootics is important for farmers and consumers as well as epidemiologists for financial and safety reasons. "In many cases animal epidemics are the result of either home grown diseases or factors we can control through proper animal husbandry" (Epidemics, 2002: 1). During the last mad cow epidemic in Great Britain "feeding of the remains of dead sheep and cows to livestock, and possibly through the injection of hormones taken from the pituitary glands of slaughtered cows to improve breeding" was found to be the source of the epidemic Epidemics, 2002: 1).
Epidemiologists need to track how certain diseases begin and spread -- for example, an epidemic may start in a wild population, but then is passed to domestic animals and then to humans -- for academic purposes. But there is also often public health concerns involved in studying epidemics. In the case of rabies, for example, although most domestic pets are inoculated against the illness, the methods of…
References
Avian Influenza A Virus Infections in Humans. (2012). CDC (Centers for Disease Control).
Retrieved:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-humans.htm
Epidemics. (2002). Retrieved:
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/xml/abtus/ourorg/dem/EMDiv/HIVA/epidemic.pdf
http://www.liv.ac.uk/geography/research_projects/epidemics/EPIZOO_out.htm#top
Rabies infections in humans are uncommon in the United States. Nevertheless, around the world approximately fifty thousand people die from rabies every year, mostly in emergent nations where agendas for vaccinating dogs against rabies don't exist. The good news is that troubles can be prohibited if the exposed individual gets treatment prior to symptoms of the contamination developing (About Rabies, 2011). Rabies is an avoidable viral disease of mammals most frequently
Jennings, Schneider, Lewis and Scatterday (1960) document the high prevalence of rabies virus present among gray foxes. They further document the fact that these rabid foxes were abundantly found near densely populated human settlements and reportedly attacked humans and other valuable livestock. Florida. Jennings, Schneider, Lewis and Scatterday (1960) however claim, that it is not possible to accurately determine the accurate percentage of deaths occurring due to rabid foxes
S. this has dramatically decreased incidences of the disease. Deborah Briggs, executive director for the Alliance for Rabies Control, reports that until now, no global coordinated effort has been exerted to help educate people in the world about rabies. Rabies "can be readily prevented through education, pet vaccination and increased human awareness about proper wound management and administration of rabies vaccination after an exposure has occurred" ("West Lafayette…," ¶ 7)
The book Rabies, edited by Alan C. Jackson and William H. Wunner is critically reviewed in a peer publication. Rabies is a "comprehensive" discussion about a major global disease, focusing on the history of the disease from ancient times, diagnostic evaluation of animal and human cases, immunological responses to the virus, and public health management recommendations. The reviewer recommends the book for its multidisciplinarity. 8. Scatterday, James E.; Schneider, Nathan J.;
These charts conclusively establish that the preponderance of rabies cases occur in urban areas and that the percentage between urban and rural areas is consistent. This graph demonstrates the occurrence of reported rabies cases for each animal type and overlays such occurrences against the location of each incident. The graph clearly establishes, again, the overwhelming involvement of raccoons in rabies cases, as in every given year of the study, the
Skunk Rabies: A Public Health ConcernIntroductionA recent outbreak of rabies among skunks in the town of Barkwood Dale poses a significant public health concern. Until now, rabies had only been detected in the local bat population, but the introduction of rabid skunks increases the potential for human and pet exposure. Over 30 skunks, several feral cats, a raccoon, and a fox have tested positive for the disease. This paper will