Zoonosis or a zoonotic disease is an infectious disease which an animal can give to a human. These diseases may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites.
Zoonotic diseases are very common. About 60% of all infectious diseases in humans are spread by animals.
Zoonotic diseases can be spread in different ways. They may be spread from a sick animal directly to a human for example, through bites and infected saliva (like with rabies), or through the air. This is called "direct zoonosis".
Zoonotic diseases can also be spread through a vector. This is an animal that carries the pathogen that causes the disease without getting infected. Diseases like this are called "vector-borne diseases".
Sometimes the vector picks up the disease from another animal. For example, rats who have the bubonic plague do not directly infect humans. Instead, fleas bite the rats and pick up the bacteria that causes plague without getting sick. Then, if the flea bites a human, they can pass the bacteria on to the human, and the human can get the plague. The rat is the host of the disease, and the flea is the vector.
Many foodborne illnesses are zoonotic diseases. In these cases, a human gets infected by eating food that came from a sick animal, or one which had picked up a parasite.
The most common pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses are "Salmonella", "Campylobacter", and "Escherichia coli" ("E. coli") bacteria. Eggs, seafood, meat, poultry, and dairy products can all carry these bacteria and cause foodborne illnesses, like food poisoning, in humans.
Other zoonotic illnesses that humans can get from eating or drinking include:
Often, people can avoid foodborne illnesses by cooking meat, seafood, and eggs well enough to kill the bacteria or parasites in them.
Below are some examples of zoonotic diseases that humans can get directly from sick, live animals.
Teasel
Teasel is a plant in the genus Dipsacus. There are about 15 different species of teasel. These flowering plants are tall and leafy (herbaceous). They are biennial plants and are native to (come from) Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. They can grow to be tall.
These plants have a prickly stem and leaves. Its flowers are purple, dark pink, or lavender and grow directly on the end of the stem. After flowering, the head of the plant dries out and holds small seeds. These seeds are important food in the winter for birds, especially the European Goldfinch. Teasels are grown in gardens and nature reserves to attract these goldfinches.
In the United States, teasel is an invasive species. It is not native to the continent and takes over the land of native plant species.
Some of the most common species of teasel are:
No Strings Attached (movie)
No Strings Attached is a 2011 American romantic comedy movie. It stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. The movie is about two friends who make a decision to have regular casual sex.
Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. She was a member of the crew of Space Shuttle "Challenger", who were killed in the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster.
Brian Wilson (baseball)
Brian Patrick Wilson (born March 16, 1982) is an American baseball player. He was born in Winchester, Massachusetts and grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He played college baseball at Louisiana State University. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2003 and has played his whole career in the Giants system. He started playing with the Giants in 2006 and became their closer (a pitcher who pitches the ninth inning of the game) in 2008. He has been named an All-Star three times in 2008, 2010 and 2011. In the 2010 season, he starting growing a beard, which he kept after the Giants won the World Series. He led the league in saves in 2010. In 2011, he started slowly, but had 25 saves and six wins before the All-Star break. Due to his beard and his personality, Wilson appeared on many talk shows and commercials, including for MLB 2K11.
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, songwriter and singer. He was born in Inglewood, California.
He is a founding member of The Beach Boys, although he was largely separate from the band from the 1970s until 2011. He played bass, sang, and wrote songs for them. In the 1970s and 80s, Wilson struggled with drug problems and eating too much. In the 1980s and 90s, he began a solo career.
He was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2007. In 2011, Wilson reunited with The Beach Boys.
Wilson has bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder.
Hypersexuality
Hypersexuality is known as nymphomania when in females and satyriasis when in males. It is a stronger than usual urge to have sexual intercourse. Masturbation causes euphoria (extreme pleasure). It is caused by some stimulant drugs, such as amphetamine. It is also caused by some mental disorders: bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder. Some cases are of unknown cause. Some psychologists think it can be caused by a hormone imbalance. Others believe it is caused by early exposure to pornography and sex.
Free writing
Free writing or stream-of-consciousness writing is a genre of writing. In free writing, a person writes continuously for a certain period of time. The writer does not need to pay attention to spelling or grammar and writes whatever comes to mind. In the writing process, free writing takes place during prewriting.
The writing that is created by free writing is raw and unusable. The process is sometimes used by writers to overcome writer's block, apathy, and self-criticism. It is mostly used by writing teachers and people who write prose (not poetry.)
It is sometimes thought to be a kind of brainstorming. In brainstorming, the writer lists ideas and possibilities. In free writing, the writer writes sentences to make paragraphs.
A Serbian Film
A Serbian Film is a horror movie which opened to much controversy. When it was released during 2010, the movie was marked with a Refused Classification rating in Australia. A highly censored version was later approved. It was released in the United States with a rating of NC-17 (No Children 17 or Under Admitted) in May 2011. The movie is about a pornographic movie star who agrees to perform in an art film, but then learns that he has been dragged into a snuff movie filled with necrophilia and other adult themes. "A Serbian Film" faced severe censorship problems in many countries because of its mature content.
Hatchet II
Hatchet II is a 2010 American slasher movie. The movie picks up where the original "Hatchet" ended. It is set in Louisiana. "Hatchet II" was released with no rating by the MPAA in the United States.
Kubla Khan
Kubla Khan is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He wrote it in 1797, and it was published in 1816. It is a poem from the Romantic era, a time when people often made art about nature and emotions. Coleridge said that he wrote the poem after a dream he had, while on opium. He said that he was interrupted by a person from Porlock while he was writing it, and never got to finish it. Some people say that this is not completely true.
The first stanza of the poem describes a pleasure dome and a river called Alph, and the second stanza talks about an Abyssinian maid.
Sands of Iwo Jima
Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war movie that was produced by Edmund Grainger and was directed by Allan Dwan. "Sands of Iwo Jima" was released on December 14, 1949 in North America. The movie received positive reviews with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie is about a group of United States Marines. The movie follows their training for the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award in 4 categories; Best Actor in a Leading Role (for John Wayne), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.