Zoonotic infectious diseases

As people's living standards improve, many people will find that keeping pets has become a popular trend. More and more people feel that they really like pets, especially dogs. There are many types of dogs, but what people often don't pay attention to when raising pets is the issue of hygiene. People will eat the same food with their pets just because they like it more. So what are zoonotic infectious diseases?

1. Human infection with Streptococcus suis

Human infection with suis streptococcus is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Streptococcus suis infecting humans from pigs. Human infection with suis streptococcus in my country is generally highly sporadic, but outbreaks also occur. Cases have been reported in our province in recent years.

Transmission route: People engaged in pig breeding, trafficking, slaughtering and processing are a high-risk group. Patients may be infected through broken skin contact with sick pigs or raw pork, and may also be infected through the digestive tract. No evidence of human-to-human transmission of Streptococcus suis has been found.

Clinical manifestations: The incubation period is several hours to 7 days, usually 2-3 days. The clinical symptoms include general bacterial infection symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, and decreased appetite. In most cases, petechiae and ecchymoses appear on the skin, and oral herpes may occur in some cases. Severe patients may develop toxic shock syndrome and streptococcal meningitis syndrome.

1. Dead pigs must be disinfected and buried deeply. It is strictly prohibited to slaughter, process and sell dead pigs privately.

2. All places that have come into contact with sick or dead pigs must be strictly disinfected. The excrement and sewage of dead pigs are prohibited from being discharged into rivers, ditches or ponds and must be buried after disinfection.

3. Personnel involved in handling sick and dead pigs must wear masks, rubber gloves, rubber aprons, hats and high rain boots. People with wounds on their skin must never come into contact with dead pigs.

4. Do not eat pork from diseased animals.

2. Brucellosis

Brucellosis, commonly known as "lazy man's disease", is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Brucella, abbreviated as brucellosis. The source of infection is domestic animals or wild animals such as sheep, cattle, pigs, dogs, etc. infected with brucellosis. At present, sheep are the main source of infection in our city.

Transmission route: direct contact with sick animals or their excrement, vaginal secretions, birth products, or failure to pay attention to protection during feeding, milking, shearing, slaughtering, and processing of skins, hair, and meat, resulting in infection through broken skin or mucous membranes. It can also be infected through indirect contact with the environment and objects contaminated by sick animals. Infection can also occur by eating food or water contaminated by pathogens, or by consuming raw milk, undercooked meat, and offal. Pathogens can cause respiratory infections through aerosols.

Clinical manifestations: Fever is the most common. Most patients with hyperhidrosis are in the acute phase. Joint and muscle pain is similar to rheumatism, and the pain is very severe. Patients in both acute and chronic stages may experience bone, joint and muscle pain. There are also fatigue, lack of energy, rash, enlarged liver, spleen, lymph nodes, enlarged testicles, swollen joints, subcutaneous nodules, etc.

1. Personnel involved in calf (lamb) delivery, midwifery, veterinary medicine, slaughtering, fur processing, etc. should take personal protection measures and wear work clothes, rubber aprons, hats, masks, and latex gloves.

2. Heat the milk and dairy products of sick animals to above 70°C for 30 minutes for sterilization.

3. Do not eat raw, half-cooked or half-cooked livestock meat. Keep raw and cooked food separate.

4. Strengthen water source management to prevent livestock feces and other pollutants from polluting drinking water.

5. To prevent respiratory infections, livestock pens must be disinfected regularly and feces must be disposed of in a timely manner.

3. Rabies

Rabies is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the rabies virus and is a Class B infectious disease in my country. Once infected, the mortality rate is 100%. It is mainly transmitted by dogs, cats, bats, stray or wild mammals. Cold-blooded animals such as turtles and snakes, chickens and birds do not transmit the rabies virus. Dogs are the main reservoir and transmission hosts of rabies in my country.

Transmission route: Rabies virus Most human rabies cases are caused by bites from rabid animals. A few are caused by scratches or contamination of wounds and mucous membranes. There are occasional reports of cases due to transplantation of organs or tissues donated by rabies patients, but the virus cannot invade intact skin.

Clinical manifestations: The incubation period of rabies is usually 1-3 months, rarely exceeding 1 year. Symptoms include specific fear of wind, fear of water, pharyngeal muscle spasm, progressive paralysis, etc.

1. Try to avoid contact with dogs, cats and other animals;

2. Domestic dogs and cats should be kept on a leash and given rabies vaccinations at veterinary departments every year;

3. If you are bitten, scratched, or licked on the mucous membranes or broken skin by a rabid animal, a suspected rabid animal, or a rabies host animal that is not confirmed to be healthy, or if your open wounds or mucous membranes come into contact with the saliva or tissue of an animal that may be infected with the rabies virus, you should immediately go to a regular rabies post-exposure treatment clinic for standardized post-exposure treatment.

4. The more timely the wound is treated, the better the effect of clearing and killing the virus that has invaded the wound will be. Therefore, regardless of whether the injured person is ready to go to the hospital for treatment, it is very important to wash himself thoroughly with soapy water and running water alternately for more than 15 minutes as soon as possible after the injury.

5. If your exposed skin is lightly bitten by a suspicious animal, or if you have minor scratches or abrasions without bleeding, you should also get the rabies vaccine.

6. People who have frequent contact with dogs, cats, etc. can receive preventive rabies vaccination.

4. Japanese encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a natural zoonotic infectious disease caused by the JE virus and transmitted by mosquitoes. Japanese encephalitis has high mortality and disability rates and is one of the major infectious diseases threatening the health of the population, especially children. Summer and autumn are the peak seasons for the disease, and the distribution of epidemic areas is closely related to the distribution of vector mosquitoes.

Transmission route: Pigs are the main source of infection, and the disease is mainly transmitted through mosquito bites, among which Culex tritaeniorhynchus is the main vector. Since mosquitoes can carry the virus over the winter and pass it on through eggs, they are not only transmission vectors but also long-term storage hosts.

Clinical manifestations: The incubation period of Japanese encephalitis is 5-15 days, and the patient's symptoms are mainly characterized by high fever, convulsions, and coma. The initial onset is acute, with the main symptoms being general discomfort, headache, fever, often accompanied by chills, and a body temperature of 38℃-39℃. The headache is often severe, accompanied by nausea and vomiting (in the form of projections). In the acute encephalitis stage, the high fever persists, with the body temperature reaching above 39℃-40℃. After a few days, the central nervous system infection worsens and there will be disturbances of consciousness, such as confusion, drowsiness and coma, convulsions or twitching, stiff neck, paralysis of the affected limbs, and some will suffer from respiratory failure and die. Neurological examination showed positive Babinski sign and Achilles tendon reflex.

1. Vaccination: Vaccination against Japanese encephalitis is a key measure to prevent Japanese encephalitis. Children should receive a dose of Japanese encephalitis vaccine at 8 months and 2 years of age respectively. The vaccine will only take effect about one month after vaccination. It is recommended to get vaccinated in time according to the vaccination schedule.

2. Do a good job in mosquito control and prevention, and eliminate mosquito breeding grounds: To prevent Japanese encephalitis, comprehensive measures should be taken, mainly including mosquito control and prevention, and vaccination. Keep livestock and poultry houses clean, clean dead corners, eliminate stagnant water, unclog sewers, spray disinfectants, and reduce mosquito density. Avoid going to places with a lot of mosquitoes, install screen windows and doors, and use mosquito nets, mosquito repellents and other measures to prevent mosquito bites.

3. During the epidemic season, if you experience persistent high fever, headache, convulsions or other similar symptoms, you should go to the hospital immediately for a clear diagnosis as soon as possible to avoid delaying the disease.