PRESS
RELEASE

Additional
Information:
Zoonoses and
Communicable
Diseases
Common to Man
and Animals

New Zoonoses Book Presents Latest Information on Emerging Diseases

Washington, DC, October 7, 2003 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization has released a new edition of "Zoonoses and Communicable Diseases Common to Man and Animals," providing a detailed overview of the most important diseases common to humans and animals. The three-volume series contains information ranging from the first appearance and most important outbreaks to the latest scientific knowledge about these diseases and their causative agents.

"In recent years, zoonoses and communicable diseases common to man and animals have gained increasing attention worldwide," says PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses in a prologue. "Human diseases that have their origins in infected animals, such as AIDS or Creutzfeldt-Jakob, have highlighted the need for a better understanding of animal diseases in terms of their epidemiology, mechanism of transmission to man, diagnosis, prevention and control."

The speed of modern travel facilitates the spread of diseases once confined to specific geographic areas, as recently occurred with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Animal migration and trade pose a similar threat, as shown by outbreaks in the United States of West Nile fever and monkeypox-two diseases not previously known in the Western Hemisphere.

"The negative effects of zoonoses are far reaching. High incidence rates continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in both humans and animals," writes Roses. "Their economic impact is seen in lost labor productivity due to illness; reduced travel and tourism to affected areas; reduced livestock and food production; death and destruction of affected animals; and restrictions on and reductions in international trade. Zoonoses can be a serious drain on a country's economy, which in turn can have wide repercussions for a society's health."

PAHO's director notes that the Organization collaborates with countries in the Americas to improve food safety and to prevent and control zoonoses, through programs from its Washington headquarters and its specialized scientific centers in Brazil and Argentina.

The new edition provides a detailed overview of the most important zoonotic diseases, such as anthrax, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Lyme disease, foot-and-mouth disease, influenza, plague, Japanese encephalitis, shigellosis, spongiform encephalopathies, and many others. The information on each disease covers its first appearance, most important outbreaks, latest scientific knowledge, and causative agents. It includes etiology, geographic distribution, symptoms and occurrence in man and animals, source of infection, mode of transmission, role of animals in the epidemiology of the disease, diagnostic techniques and prevention and control measures.

This publication is considered useful for physicians, epidemiologists, biologists, parasitologists, virologists, veterinarians, and workers in public health and animal health institutions, as well as professors, researchers, and students in these areas.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, has been working for more than 100 years with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples. Established in 1902, PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States, and Portugal and Spain are Observer States. Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.