Commentary

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ZOONOSES E. RYU, D.V.M., Dr. Med. Sci., Ph.D. From the Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, and International Laboratory for Zoonoses, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

The term zoonoses, according to the Expert Committee on Zoonoses (1958),' is defined as "those diseases or infections which are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man." The vertebrate animals include domestic animals, birds and reptiles. The pathogenic organisms are viruses, bacteriae, rickettsiae, protozoae and parasites. A report of this subject from the Communicable Disease Center, U.S.A. in 19652 listed 118 zoonoses. The representative diseases of viruses are rabies and encephalitis; of rickettsiae are epidemic typhus, Q fever and psittacosis; of bacteriae are anthrax, tuberculosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, tularemia, salmonellosis, swine erysipelas; of protozoae are toxoplasmosis, trypanosomiasis; of parasites are trichinosis, filariasis, etc. These diseases are transmitted by direct contact or indirectly via infected vectors, such as mites, fleas, lice and mosquitoes. Consequently, dermatologists are in a key position to advance our knowledge of zoonoses. A classification, based upon the type of life cycle of the infecting organism, divides the zoonoses into four categories.' Categories of Zoonoses First, direct zoonoses are transmitted from an infected vertebrate host to a susceptible vertebrate host by direct contact, by contact with a fomite, or by a

mechanical vector. The agent itself undergoes little or no propagative changes and no essential development change during transmission. Examples are rabies, trichinosis, and brucellosis. Second, cyclo-zoonoses require more than one vertebrate host species, but no invertebrate host, in order to complete the developmental cycle of the agent. Examples are the human taeniases, echinococcosis, etc. Third, meta-zoonoses are transmitted biologically by invertebrate vectors. In the invertebrate, the agent multiplies or develops, or both, and there is always an extrinsic incubation period before transmission to another vertebrate host is possible. Examples are numerous, and include arbovirus infections, plague, schistosomiasis, etc. Fourth, sapro-zoonoses have both a vertebrate host and non-animal developmental site or reservoir. Organic matter, soil, and plants are considered to be nonanimal. Examples include mycoses, etc. Although outbreaks of zoonoses differ from one area to another, the common denominator is the easy transmission by domestic animals which may be imported from an infected area. It is im-

517

518

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY

portant to understand the outbreaks of zoonoses in each country, and it would be advantageous to initiate a closer international cooperation in the field of prevention of zoonoses. For this reason, I first issued the "International Journal of Zoonoses" in 1974.^ In addition, I have also collected a Chronological Reference of Zoonoses which were published as leptospires and leptospirosis (1971),'' Japanese B encephalitis (1974)* and Aujeszky's disease—pseudorabies (1975).^ Reviews of the other important zoonoses will be published year by year. The "International Journal of Zoonoses" and "Chronological Reference of Zoonoses" have been sent to interested medical and veterinary medical colleges. Dermatologists may receive the journal by writing to me. The principal compila-

September 1976

Vol. 15

tion of the journal is determined by the 64 members of the publication committee who represent 22 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (Taiwan), France, W. Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States of America. References 1. WHO/FAO, Expert Committee on Zoonoses. 1958, 1967. 2. Epidemiological Aspects of Some of the Zoonoses. Atlanta, Ga., Communicable Disease Center, 1965. 3. International Journal of Zoonoses. Vol. 1, No. 1-2, 1974. 4. Chronological Reference of Zoonoses, Leptospires and Leptospirosis (1971), Japanese B Encephalitis (1974), and Aujeszky's DiseasePseudorabies (1975).

"Spirit of '76" by Lisa Ann Tromovltch, Burlingame, CA. Honorable mention in the "under 16" category, 1975 Art exhibit of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The International Journal of Zoonoses.

Commentary THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ZOONOSES E. RYU, D.V.M., Dr. Med. Sci., Ph.D. From the Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan Uni...
2MB Sizes 0 Downloads 0 Views