Public Health and Animal Health
Public health is one of the most important issues of the international agenda today. And it is impossible to think of public policies for human health disconnected from the control and effective promotion of animal health. Next, we will talk about the relationship between animal health and public health, affecting the importance of eradication of zoonotic diseases.
The delicate relationship between animal health and public health
The relationship between man and animal is complex and has been developed in different areas throughout the history of humanity. We would hardly have reached such an advanced state of technological, economic and social development, it was not for the ability to domesticate or tame different species, such as dogs, horses, cows, pigs, rabbits, etc.
However, coexistence with animals and the exploitation of their physical and cognitive abilities for human survival also implies important challenges for public health. In practice, one of the key ‘challenges’ in this area is the control of zoonoses that can affect human health, threaten the survival of numerous species and pollute the environment.
When we talk about animal health, we refer mainly to the need to ensure the integrity of those animals that produce food for human consumption. For example, keep cattle in good health to avoid pollution of meat, milk and its derivatives that will go to human nutrition.
The eradication of zoonotic diseases is very complex, since it needs to contemplate the risks of direct and indirect infection that involve different pathogens, being some of them potentially lethal. These disease control actions must contemplate that many products of animal origin are exported;Therefore, pollution could mean the global dissemination of certain pathologies.
What are zoonoses and why they mean a challenge to public health?
To better understand the importance of animal health for public health, we understand what zoonoses are. Zoonotic diseases are considered. Those pathologies and infections that vertebrate animals can transmit to humans.
The infection of these zoonoses can occur directly or indirectly. When a person has direct contact, or by inhalation, with the blood or fluids of an infected animal, it is considered a direct contagion. In the case of cattle, for example, the human being could be infected through the consumption of contaminated meat, especially if he eats it raw or poorly cooked.
However, the secretion and fluid deposits of an infected animal can also contaminate the soil, waters, crops and other types of organic or plant matter. When a person has direct contact, he ingests or inhales this contaminated organic matter, he can acquire a zoonosis by indirect contagion. In addition, another type of indirect zoonosis transmission occurs through animals that act as vectors, mainly insects (such as mosquitoes and flies) and ectoparasites (such as ticks, fleas and mites).
For example, if a mosquito pica to an infected animal and immediately itchs to a human being, you can transmit the pathogens that are housed in its saliva.
Why is zoonosis control essential for public health?
Of course, public health must look beyond animal health, since many common pathologies in humans are not related to other species. However, the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) estimates that 60% of pathogens that affect people have animal origin.
In addition, every year about five emerging diseases arise in animals, mainly in those whose parenting is destined for human consumption. And approximately 75 % of emerging diseases in animals can be transmitted to humans. While the interpretation of these figures is much more complex, it is more than obvious that animal health is indispensable for public health. This is reflected in the 2003 law.
Animal health also collaborates in the prevention of environmental pollution (especially soil for crops and fresh water masses that are destined for plantations and human consumption);Another aspect is the control of the dissemination of pests and vectors that can threaten public health, such as rats, mosquitoes and external parasites.
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