Scientists note that 60-75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic (transferable from animals to humans) in nature and that the majority of zoonoses originate in wildlife. Most known zoonotic pathogens can be transferred by mammal species, particularly primates, bats and rodents, yet many of these animal species are still legally kept as pets in many EU countries. Previous research has found 70 different exotic-pet-related zoonotic diseases in the EU. Risks of zoonotic spill-over are higher with non-domesticated, exotic pets than domesticated pets. Read more in our rapport ‘threats from exotic mammal pets’. Between 2015 and 2019 AAP rescued exotic animals that were susceptible to more than 120 different zoonotic viruses, bacteria and parasites that can be dangerous and potentially lethal to humans. 1 in every 7 exotic pets rescued by AAP in the last 5 years, carried at least one zoonosis. Most of the pathogenic agents causing these zoonoses can be transmitted to other animals too. This is for instance the case with rabies, tuberculosis, leptospirosis, but also Q-fever and brucellosis. Apart from known zoonoses, there is a clear lack of detection and knowledge of zoonoses in wildlife. An estimated 1.7 million currently undiscovered viruses are thought to exist in mammal and avian hosts. Of these, 631,000-827,000 could have the ability to infect humans (IPBES Pandemics Workshop Report). A compounding difficulty is that exotic animals can carry potentially dangerous pathogens without showing any signs of illness (which is a survival mechanism for wild animals), which leads pet owners to think their pet is disease-free.