Animal movements and the spread of infectious diseases

Animal movements and disease transmission

Infectious diseases are transmitted between hosts by a variety of mechanisms, including direct, airborne and vector-borne transmission. Control of animal-to-animal transmission of disease agents is a key concept in infectious disease epidemiology; however, a more sensible approach might be to prevent the types of contact that lead to transmission in the first place. In humans, it is often difficult to prevent contacts, particularly with the ease of long-distance travel [1]. However, in livestock and animals, movements can be the subject of legislation or strict controls and there is a real opportunity to reduce disease transmission. The importance of animal move- ments is, of course, well understood and international regulations [e.g. from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE; Box 1)] exist to mitigate the risks involved [2]. In spite of these regulations, outbreaks occur regularly as a result of both legal and illegal animal movements. Selengkapnya file dapat didownload di sini