What are zoonotic diseases, how they spread, and how to prevent them - Insider - INSIDER

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• What are zoonotic diseases, how they spread, and how to prevent them - Insider - INSIDER
• Alabama Extension Service: Ivermectin unproven as COVID-19 treatment - The Madison Record - themadisonrecord.com
• What are some of the world's other infectious diseases – and how deadly are they? - World Economic Forum

What are zoonotic diseases, how they spread, and how to prevent them - Insider - INSIDER Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:46 AM PDT A zoonotic disease is an illness that can be passed from an animal to a human. Some examples of zoonotic diseases include rabies, salmonella, Lyme disease, malaria, and COVID-19. These diseases are passed through direct contact with an animal, contact with infected droppings or other bodily fluids, through a vector such as a mosquito or a flea, or by eating infected, uncooked meat.  This article was medically reviewed by Tania Elliott, MD, who specializes in infectious diseases related to allergies and immunology for internal medicine at NYU Langone Health.  Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A zoonotic disease is any disease that can be passed between animals and people. Some examples of zoonotic diseases are ebola, swine flu, and the COVID-19 coronavirus. Zoonotic diseases are common, ranging from mild symptoms to potentially deadly illnesses. Experts estimate that over 60 percent of infectious diseases can be spread from animals to humans. Here's what you need to know about zoonotic diseases and how to protect yourself from getting them. How zoonotic diseases go from animals to people Many different types of germs can cause a zoonotic disease including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. "There are several ways that zoonotic pathogens move from animals to people," says Richard Ostfeld, PhD, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. These pathways include: Direct contact with an animal like from a scratch or bite. Common examples include being bitten by a dog with rabies or getting cat scratch fever. Contact with the urine, feces, or nests of an infected animal. This can happen when cleaning out a shed where animals may have nested or when swimming in contaminated water. This contact can happen in one of two ways: Airborne: Breathing in particles of urine or feces can cause illnesses like hantavirus.  Water-borne: You can get parasites like giardia by drinking water contaminated with infected animal feces. Vectors such as mosquitos, ticks, and fleas can spread disease by biting an infected animal and then biting you. Food transmission can result from eating food contaminated with animal feces or from eating undercooked animal products like meat or eggs. Examples of common zoonotic diseases Rabies: One well-known zoonotic disease is rabies, a deadly condition that is transferred through an animal bite. Rabies has traditionally been associated with dogs. In fact, dogs are the source of 99 percent of rabies cases, mainly in Africa and Asia. In the US, rabies is rare. Moreover, dogs are vaccinated against rabies, so the most common sources are wild animals like bats and raccoons. Once a person starts showing symptoms like agitation and confusion, the disease is almost always fatal. Lyme Disease: Lyme disease is the most common zoonotic disease in the US. Symptoms include rash, fatigue, headache, and fever. The disease is transmitted through the bite of a blacklegged tick. Mice are typically the carriers of Lyme disease, and when a tick bites an infected mouse, it then carries the disease to any human it bites. If Lyme disease is not treated, it can spread through the whole body, affecting the heart and nervous system. Even if you do get treatment, you may still have long-term symptoms of pain and fatigue. Salmonella: Salmonella is a bacterial infection that affects 1.35 million people in the US every year. Salmonella is generally spread through infected chicken or eggs, but it can come from a variety of foods including other meats and vegetables. The symptoms of Salmonella, including fever, diarrhea, and cramps, are unpleasant, but most people recover without antibiotics in 4 to 7 days. Malaria: Malaria is a parasitic illness caused by a bite from an infected mosquito. In 2018, there were 228 million cases of malaria worldwide, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Malaria causes flu-like symptoms including chills, aches, and nausea. If left untreated, it can be fatal. How to prevent and treat zoonotic diseases "There are relatively few vaccines for zoonotic diseases," Ostfeld says, but this is becoming a bigger focus for scientists after outbreaks of zoonotic viruses like Ebola and COVID-19. One challenge to developing a vaccine may be that some zoonotic diseases mutate into many different forms, making it difficult to create a universal vaccine. Zoonotic diseases are treated depending on the type of germ they come from. Bacteria are treated with antibiotics, while parasites can be treated with anti-parasitic drugs, Ostfeld says. "Handling, killing, and eating wildlife is definitely risky," Ostfeld says. Being in rodent-infested buildings can also increase your risk, as rodents are the source of many zoonotic infections, Ostfeld says.  One important step to protect yourself against zoonotic disease is to use insect repellents or protective clothing to keep away ticks and mosquitoes. It's also important to always wash your hands after touching or being around animals. If you can't wash your hands right away, you can use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol to kill germs. Zoonotic diseases are a common cause of illness and it's important to take precautions whenever you may come into contact with animals. If you start to feel ill after having contact with an animal or animal droppings, go see a doctor as soon as possible.

Alabama Extension Service: Ivermectin unproven as COVID-19 treatment - The Madison Record - themadisonrecord.com Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT AUBURN UNIVERSITY—Social media platforms are lighting up about a recent Australian study on the possible antiviral effects that the drug ivermectin may have on the COVID-19 virus. However, there is little known about the affects this treatment could have. Soren Rodning, an Alabama Extension veterinarian, warns that people should not buy animal ivermectin products to self-medicate. "There's still a lot we don't know about how effective a treatment of ivermectin really is for COVID-19 in humans," said Rodning, who is also an Auburn University associate professor of animal sciences. "What we do know for certain is that animal formulations of ivermectin are NOT recommended for human use." Rodning said the Food and Drug Administration requires labels on animal ivermectin products warning people not to ingest it. "The concentration of ivermectin in these products or some of the inactive ingredients used in animal formulations may not be safe for human use," he said. "Specifically, these have not been proven safe for use by people through clinical drug trials. Bottom line—do not self-medicate with animal ivermectin products. I cannot emphasize this enough." Rodning said people commonly use ivermectin as an anti-parasitic treatment in cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses, and pets such as dogs and cats. "Developed in the 1970s, the drug is also used to treat a variety of human parasitic diseases, especially in developing countries," Rodning said. "For example, it is currently used to treat a parasitic disease caused by roundworms that affects an estimated 30 to 100 million people worldwide." The Australian research circulating through social media conducted the study in vitro. "In vitro means the research was performed outside of a living organism, such as in a petri dish," Rodning said. "In vivo is conducted on a living organism, such as mice, rabbits, or people." Drug trials for infectious diseases typically begin in vitro. Compounds that demonstrate positive effects then progress to in vivo studies. "One frustrating reality for researchers is that many drugs may show in vitro effects, but not show the same type of results once in vivo testing begins," he said. Ivermectin in recent years has shown to have antiviral activity against a broad range of viruses in vitro. "Most notably, ivermectin has shown in vitro activity against Zika virus and dengue virus," Rodning said. "But so far ivermectin has shown no antiviral effects against Zika virus in mice." Rodning said a human clinical trial in Thailand used the drug against the dengue virus, but it observed no clinical benefit in that research. "There is reason to hope that ivermectin could prove useful against COVID-19, but much more research needs to be done," Rodning said. "We are just not there yet." Rodning said the best defenses are the simple steps already in place. Practice good social distancing Wash hands frequently Keep hands away from face, especially nose and mouth Eat a healthy diet Get adequate rest More Information Alabama Extension has the content piece Ivermectin Unproven as Treatment for COVID-19 that goes into greater detail about this study. For more information on the coronavirus and how it affects you, visit www.alabamaready.info or the Alabama Extension website, www.aces.edu.

What are some of the world's other infectious diseases – and how deadly are they? - World Economic Forum Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:10 AM PDT Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease. More than 600,000 people developed drug-resistant TB in 2016. Influenza infects up to 5 million people per year. Around 94% of malaria fatalities are in sub-Saharan Africa. With half the planet under lockdown due to COVID-19, it's fair to say infectious diseases have the world's attention. COVID-19, caused by a newly discovered coronavirus, can lead to respiratory illness. It has, in a few short months, infected more than 1.5 million people. More than 89,000 have died. And while there are actions we can take to help slow its spread, there's currently no vaccine or treatment available. But while the coronavirus is rightly making headlines, there are many other infectious diseases circulating among us. These diseases are caused by pathogenic organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Sometimes their spread leads to pandemics that tear through populations, such as the 14th-century bubonic plague, which killed about 50 million people in Europe, or 1918's Spanish Flu, which infected a quarter of the world's population. While the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19 continues, modern medicine and today's sophisticated healthcare systems go a long way to protect us from many of these organisms. But even so, we're still at risk from the diseases they can cause. Here are some of the deadliest. A new strain of Coronavirus, COVID 19, is spreading around the world, causing deaths and major disruption to the global economy. Responding to this crisis requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forum's mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum has created the COVID Action Platform, a global platform to convene the business community for collective action, protect people's livelihoods and facilitate business continuity, and mobilize support for the COVID-19 response. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action. As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus. 1. Tuberculosis About 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2018, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 1.5 million died. And even though it's curable and preventable, it's still the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. And it's in the top 10 causes of death worldwide. TB is caused by bacteria spread from person to person in the air through coughs or sneezes. It can be treated with antibiotics, but when these drugs aren't used properly or are mismanaged, multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB can occur. Treatment for these strains is long and expensive, and the WHO says multidrug-resistant TB is a public health crisis – in 2016, nearly 500,000 people worldwide developed it. Deaths caused by diseases preventable through vaccination. Image: Our World in Data 2. Measles Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease, caused by a virus and spread through coughs, sneezes and close contact. It can survive for two hours in the air and is so contagious that up to 90% of people surrounding an infected person will get the disease if not already immune. A safe and effective vaccine is given to large numbers of the world's children by their first birthday – 86% in 2018. But in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, it's still lethal, killing 140,000 people in 2018. More than 95% of these deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and poor health infrastructure. And outbreaks are particularly devastating in places that have suffered from conflict or a natural disaster – just 59% of Haitian children under the age of 1 received their routine vaccination a year after the 2010 earthquake, suppressing herd immunity. Measles case distribution by month and WHO region. Image: WHO 3. Malaria History has shown malaria can be effectively managed. It was prevalent in Western Europe and the US but wiped out by the mid-1930s and 1951 respectively. However, in 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases across the globe, with 405,000 deaths – most of these (94%) occurred in the WHO's Africa region, with children under 5 representing the most vulnerable group. Deaths from malaria, however, have reduced by half since 2000, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But one species of mosquito – the Anopheline – is developing resistance to insecticide, while the parasite the mosquito transmits is also starting to resist key drugs. Vector control (insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying) is a vital frontline defence, but as the mortality reduction rate slows, the onus is now on finding new and innovative ways to eradicate the disease, such as using epidemiological data for planning and analysis. Malaria deaths by region. Image: Our World in Data 4. Influenza Just as winter arrives every year, so does an influx of influenza, known as the flu. And for most people, the result is a few unpleasant days in bed. But for those in high-risk groups – such as pregnant women, the elderly or people with chronic health conditions – it can be fatal. The WHO estimates 3 to 5 million people a year contract severe flu worldwide, and up to 650,000 people die. This can put healthcare systems under immense strain during peak infection periods (health workers are at a heightened risk of contracting the disease), and there is a knock-on economic effect as schools and workplaces cope with absences of pupils and staff. 5. Diarrhoeal disease Cholera and dysentery may sound like 19th-century killers but, unfortunately, the reality is very different. Diarrhoeal disease kills around 525,000 children under 5 every year – in fact, it's the second-leading cause of death in young children after acute respiratory infections. It's usually caused by an infection of the intestinal tract – bacterial, viral or parasitic – and it's often down to poor hygiene (being passed from person to person) or contaminated food or water – which especially affect the world's poorest regions. The WHO says 780 million individuals across the globe lack access to clean drinking water and 2.5 billion lack decent sanitation. Diarrheal diseases are one of the biggest killers of children worldwide. Image: Our World in Data License and Republishing World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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