Vaccination against bird flu offers farmers hope, rather than being caught between the anguish of finding a sick bird and the desolation of having to slaughter their entire flock.
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Articles on Zoonoses
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COVID has spread many times from humans to white-tailed deer and back again.
Animals, including the ones that live in our homes, can carry all kinds of illnesses. Most of the time it’s not a problem, but here’s what you should do to avoid getting sick.
From September onwards, migratory birds will arrive on Australian shores. If one is carrying the lethal bird flu, it could devastate our birdlife
Raw seafood dishes such as sushi, poke bowls and ceviche are increasingly popular, but can harbour fish-borne parasites. What’s the best way to protect ourselves?
Avian influenza — commonly known as ‘bird flu’ — is infecting domestic and wild birds in Canada and around the world.
Floods are often followed by waves of diseases because pathogens shed by animals can survive in flood waters for days, raising the risk of infection for humans.
Bats host many viruses dangerous to humans. But it’s only when their habitats are destroyed that we’re at risk.
Authorities have been warned about five virus families that could cause future pandemics. Here are snapshots of the diseases each can cause and why we should be worried.
If surveillance focuses only on diseases that have already emerged, we’ll remain behind the curve. Better prediction of future pandemics will need to integrate animal, planetary and human health.
For the lab leak theory to be true, SARS-CoV-2 must have been present in the Wuhan Institute of Virology before the pandemic started. But there’s not a single piece of data suggesting this.
Data suggests most of the time infection results in either no symptoms or very mild disease for cats and dogs. And the duration of their symptoms, if they get them, may be very short.
This is not the first time that the monkeypox virus has spread beyond Africa, its continent of origin. But the current epidemic is unprecedented for a number of reasons.
Avian influenza virus — or bird flu — can infect domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys, as well as wild birds. The H5N1 strain has been identified in Canada.
Scientists exploring the possibility of an animal origin for Covid-19 are still investigating the missing link between bats and human beings.
Following the global spread of COVID, there have been widespread calls for blanket bans on the consumption and trade of wild animals. But such bans may have unintended consequences.
The fear that SARS-CoV-2 will evolve in animals and then spread back to us in a more virulent form is unfounded.
New developments in organ transplants from animals show promise. However, there has been no public engagement about a potential risk. It may streamline a pathway to humans for new zoonotic diseases.
The delay in finding definitive answers to how novel infectious diseases come about is not unusual. Look at what happened to our search for Ebola virus.
Scientists have been testing captive and wild animals for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Only a few wild species are known to carry the virus, but many more have been shown to be susceptible.
Top contributors
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Professor of Infectious Diseases, Monash University
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Directeur régional Asie du Sud-Est, vétérinaire et épidémiologiste, Cirad
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Deputy head of ASTRE research unit, epidemiologist, Cirad
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Anthropologie, EHESS, CNRS, Laboratoire d'anthropologie sociale, Collège de France, Auteurs historiques The Conversation France
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Veterinarian epidemiologist, Cirad
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Director, Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University
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Lawyer, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor of Veterinary Infectious Diseases, University of Liverpool and International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya, University of Liverpool
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Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Griffith University
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Professor of Bioethics & Medicine, Sydney Health Ethics, Haematologist/BMT Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital and Director, Praxis Australia, University of Sydney
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Dean Faculty of Natural Sciences and Professor, University of the Western Cape
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Wildlife Veterinarian with Smithsonian's Global Health Program, and adjunct Assistant Professor, Yale University
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University
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Public Health Pathology, NSW Health Pathology, Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney, University of Sydney
