Definition | Epizootic | Futura Planet

An epizootic is a epidemic which affects animals of the same species or different species, in a given region. As with an epidemic, an epizootic is characterized by a large number of cases in a relatively short time. In breeding, epizootics can cause significant losses due to the death of animals or poorer performance (reduced egg-laying, lactation or growth).

Most epizootics are not zoonoses : the disease is not transmitted to humans. But sometimes the infection can pass from animals to humans.

The best known epizootics

Among the best known epizootics, let us quote for example:

  • the epizootic of Avian Flu which affects birds of various species. The Avian Flu is a viral disease linked to a influenza virus of type A, in particular of the subtypes H5, H7 and H9. For example, the virus H5N1 appeared in 1997 returned in 2003 and caused an avian flu epizootic. Rare cases of virus transmission H5N1 to humans have been raised;

  • the foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious viral disease of cattle (cattle, sheep, goats …). The disease is rarely fatal in adult animals, but it leads to production losses;

  • the crisis of Mad Cow (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE), which started in the UK around 1986. This disease is linked to molecule abnormal that builds up in the brain : the prion. Suspected transmission to humans has emerged due to suspected cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases appeared in young people.

This will also interest you

Interview 1/5: how is a pandemic defined? With the considerable development of air transport, one would think that the risk of planetary contamination by a disease is high. We met Jean-François Saluzzo, virologist with the WHO, who explains the phenomenon of the pandemic to us.

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