Zoonosis
Also called: Zoonotic disease, Zoonotic spillover · Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A zoonosis is a disease that passes from animals to humans. The germ, which may be a virus, bacterium or parasite, lives in an animal host. It jumps to people through a bite, through contact with the animal's blood or body fluids, or through infected meat. This jump is called zoonotic spillover. Ebola, rabies and bird flu are zoonoses. Spillover becomes more likely when people clear forests, hunt wild animals or live close to livestock. Because of this, the One Health approach treats human, animal and environmental health as one linked system. When a zoonosis spreads widely, it becomes a biological disaster, one of NCERT's four classes of natural disasters.
Example
Ebola is a zoonosis. Wild animals are thought to carry the virus, and fruit bats are the suspected natural host. The 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started in Ituri province in the country's east. It became the DRC's largest Ebola outbreak, with confirmed cases above 10,000 by October 2026. It also spread to Uganda.
Don't confuse with
- Vector-borne disease: a carrier such as a mosquito spreads the germ. Dengue spreads mainly from person to person through mosquito bites, so it is not usually counted as a zoonosis.
- Biological disaster: this is the large-scale event, such as an epidemic or a locust attack. A zoonosis is one kind of disease that can cause such a disaster.