zoonosis
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GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/zoonoses/en/ (last access: 4 December 2014); NIH – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/animaldiseasesandyourhealth.html (last access: 8 December 2014).

N: 1. zoonosis (n): “disease communicated to humans by animals,” plural zoonoses, 1876, from zoo- (word-forming element meaning “animal, living being,” from comb. form of Greek zoion “an animal,” literally “a living being,”) “animal”) + nosos (noso: word-forming element meaning “disease,” from comb. form of Greek nosos “disease, sickness, malady,” of unknown origin).
zoonotic (adj.): 1900, from zoonosis + -ic.

2. An infection or infestation shared in the nature by man and other animals that are the normal or usual host; a disease of man acquired from an animal source.

3. Also called zoonotic disease, referring to any of a group of diseases that can be transmitted to humans by nonhuman vertebrate animals, such as mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. A large number of domestic and wild animals are sources of zoonotic disease, and there are numerous means of transmission. Public health veterinarians have a critical role in zoonotic disease surveillance, prevention, and control, but risk reduction increasingly requires multidisciplinary teams and a unified concept of medicine in humans and other animal species.

4. From the point of view of occupational exposure, zoonoses may be divided into three broad categories according to the group of animals which serves as the principal source of human infection:

  • domesticated animals, poultry, pets;
  • wild and domiciliary or synanthropic animals and birds (i.e. free-living animals found in or around human habitations;
  • laboratory animals.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=zoonosis&searchmode=none (last access: 4 December 2014). 2. STEDMAN (last access: 4 December 2014). 3. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657986/zoonotic-disease (last access: 4 December 2014). 4. GDT (last access: 8 December 2014).

SYN: zoonotic disease

S: EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657986/zoonotic-disease (last access: 4 December 2014); TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 8 December 2014).

CR: bacterium, bird, brucellosis, felid, infestation, rabies, snake, sodoku, toxoplasmosis, turtle.