Zoonotic diseases are typically endemic and occur in natural foci.
However, ecologic change and meteorologic or climatic events can promote epidemic expansion of host and geographic range. For practical reasons, surveillance of zoonotic agents too often relies on the identification of human cases. A recent trend in studying zoonoses that have strong environmental correlates includes geographers and mathematical modelers, who integrate satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems to predict outbreaks. Understanding extrahuman life cycles and predicting zoonotic disease outbreaks may permit control activities targeted at several points in the cycle of pathogen maintenance before human infection begins. These control efforts are important because most zoonoses are not amenable to eradication, except perhaps those in areas where animal reservoirs are targeted for vaccination, e.g., fox rabies in Europe.