Zoonotic Infections Overview: A Nigerian Perspective

Zoonoses are diseases that are naturally transmissible between the human and vertebrate animals, through agents such as bacterial, fungal, and viral agents. Research shows that over the past 10 years, about three-fourths of the new diseases that have affected human beings globally have been caused by pathogens originating from an animal or products of animal origin (1). One-fifth of the morbidity and mortality in the least developed countries are directly or indirectly associated with endemic zoonoses (2). Neglected zoonotic diseases (NZDs) are another serious issue among poor nations, including Nigeria. These diseases are called neglected because they mostly affect poor populations who normally live nearness to wild or domestic animals in areas where there is a scarcity of health and sufficient sanitary conditions. These diseases are also neglected because their burden is habitually concentrated in developing countries, in which the effort in the present day has focused on other diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, etc. (3). The transmission of these diseases can occur wherever humans live in both rural and urban settings. Contact with wildlife has increased nowadays due to the urbanization and the increased ecological changes that favor the development of some vectors of infection. Neglected zoonotic diseases take advantage of a double burden on the standard of life of people by ruining not only the quality of their health but also the life of livestock on which they laboriously rely for their survival.