Human–livestock contacts and their relationship to transmission of zoonotic pathogens, a systematic review of literature

Klous, Gijs; Huss, Anke; Heederik, Dick J.J.; Coutinho, Roel A.

Although, we found a significant body of evidence that described zoonotic transmissions of micro-organisms, little is known about the intensity and type of contact patterns leading to transmission, and thus the exact transmission pathways of micro-organisms from livestock to humans usually remains unclear. Human-livestock contacts were merely implicitly cited in the literature, and commonly, contact intensity was defined by the occupational status of the person carrying or infected with a LA-micro-organism. Studies performed in an occupational setting provided some evidence of exposure response relationships between the intensity of livestock-human contacts and the transmission of micro-organisms. Using methods that are already in place in the exposure assessment sciences [110] , exposure to LAzoonotic micro-organisms through contact patterns between livestock and humans, can be better quantified both in the occupational and the non-occupational setting. This will be crucial in the development of effective interventions to prevent transmission of micro-organisms from livestock to humans.