What is "zoonosis"

"disease communicated to humans by animals," plural zoonoses, 1876, from zoo- "animal" + nosos "disease" (see noso-).

n. An animal disease, such as rabies or anthrax, that can be transmit to humans.

1. n. an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans [syn: zoonotic disease]

2. [also: zoonoses (pl)]

Zoonoses (, plural -, also spelled zoönoses; singular zoonosis (or zoönosis); from Greek: ζῷον zoon "animal" and νόσος nosos "sickness") are infectious diseases of animals (usually vertebrates) that can naturally be transmitted to humans.

Major modern diseases such as Ebola virus disease, salmonellosis and influenza are zoonoses. Zoonoses can be caused by a range of disease pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites; of 1,415 pathogens known to infect humans, 61% were zoonotic. Most human diseases originated in animals; however, only diseases that routinely involve animal to human transmission, like rabies, are considered direct zoonosis.

Zoonoses have different modes of transmission. In direct zoonosis the disease is directly transmitted from animals to humans through media such as air ( influenza) or through bites and saliva ( rabies). In contrast, transmission can also occur via an intermediate species (referred to as a vector), which carry the disease pathogen without getting infected. When humans infect animals, it is called reverse zoonosis or anthroponosis.