{"id":10093,"date":"2021-03-08T20:33:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T20:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/?p=10093"},"modified":"2021-03-12T19:02:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T19:02:58","slug":"reverse-zoonoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/08\/reverse-zoonoses\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverse Zoonoses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, animals can give us diseases. But it works both ways. <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Could you make your pet sick?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Portrait<\/a>\n

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With COVID-19 dominating headlines around the world, concerns about zoonoses (infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans) have never been higher. And rightly so. It’s only natural that we would want to defend ourselves against potential threats.<\/h3>\n

But it’s also necessary to ask the opposite question: can humans make animals sick? As it turns out, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, an estimated 61.6 percent of human pathogens are capable of infecting other non-human hosts. However, these so-called reverse zoonoses – and the ways they impact wildlife – seldom make the headlines.<\/h3>\n

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Evidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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There are several known examples<\/a> of diseases being transmitted from humans to animals.<\/p>\n

For instance, in 2010, it was reported<\/a> that African painted dogs had been infected with human strains of Giardia duodenalis <\/em>(a gut parasite). Researchers concluded the pathogen entered the dog population through open defecation by tourists and locals in and around national parks. From then on, the infection spread dog to dog, becoming a new potential threat to an already endangered species. Then, in 2017, a research paper<\/a> suggested that genetic transmission from human Giardia<\/em> to captive Tasmanian devils could also be occurring. More recently, there have been documented cases of elephants<\/a> and also a pet dog<\/a> contracting tuberculosis from humans. And in 2019, evidence<\/a> emerged that human bacteria Salmonella<\/em> and Campylobacter<\/em> were being spread to Antarctic seabirds \u2013 with potentially catastrophic consequences.<\/p>\n

[BELOW<\/span>]<\/span> Human diseases have been documented in African wild dogs, Tasmanian devils and elephants, as well as Yorkshire terriers, Anatrctic seabirds and chimpanzees.<\/h4>\n