Zoonotic Diseases and Phytochemical Medicines for Microbial Infections in Veterinary Science: Current State and Future Perspective

Shin, Bora; Park, Woojun

A zoonosis is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Currently 61% of pathogens known to affect humans are zoonotic (10) . Most emerging infectious diseases considered to be serious public health problems have zoonotic origins (11) , and approximately three-quarters have originated from wild animals (12) . Zoonotic pathogens can be transmitted by close contact with an animal, generally through inhalation, ingestion, or other routes that contaminate mucous membranes and damaged or, in some cases, intact skin (12, 13) . Aerosol-mediated transmission is occasional, particularly in confined spaces. Fomites can transmit some agents, and the likelihood of this route correlates with the persistence of the organism in the environment. Transmission of some organisms occurs via ingestion of contaminated food or water, and such organisms may infect large number of people. Sources of zoonotic pathogens in foodborne diseases include undercooked meat or other animal tissues, seafood, and invertebrates, as well as unpasteurized milk and dairy products and contaminated vegetables (14) . Insects serve as important biological or mechanical vectors in transmitting some organisms (15) . In this review, we have summarized representative bacterial zoonotic infections (Figure 1) .