ZOONOTIC DISEASES IN INDIA

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060403/asp/knowhow/story_6039548.asp

 

Dangerous neighbours

The bird flu exposes the menace of transmissible diseases carried by

stray animals and pets in India, reports

 

The figures are scary: 30,000 deaths annually owing to rabies, 1.5

million children dying of diarrhoeal infections contracted from

animals and thousands of tea estate labourers in India reeling under

the effects of animal-borne diseases. These were some of the facts

disclosed by Dr Jackson Williams and Dr Amanda Barger Williams at the

Rotary Sadan on March 21 during a lecture on the importance of

zoonotic diseases in India. The lecture was organised by People for

Animals, Calcutta.

 

The bird flu has set alarm bells ringing throughout the world. The

recent outbreak of the disease in India starkly exposed the dormant

dangers in dealing with livestock in human habitations. But the

disease was only one in a series diagnosed all over the world in

recent times. Also, the threats looming large have not been limited to

feathered fiends. Civet cats having SARS (Severe and Acute Respiratory

Syndrome) in China, rats harbouring bubonic plague in Gujarat and

cattle diagnosed with BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encelopathy) in UK have

all caused enormous financial damage and wrought havoc with human

lives. Interestingly, all these cases have the common denominator of

rapid transmission by animals living in proximity to humans.

 

The Williams are very well aware of such risks and the nexus of

diseases between humans and animals. Jackson is a doctor with four

years of experience and works at the Bay State Medical Centre at Tufts

University and Amanda is a veterinary technician at Angell Animal

Medical Center in Massachusetts. While this is Amanda's first visit to

India, Jackson has been here several times before.

 

The speakers acknowledge that India is a rapidly changing economy and

the rapid pace of transformation can only continue. What is

disconcerting for them is that the inexorable forces of economic

growth ignore the plight of the rural population living in proximity

to animals, which does not have proper access to vaccines. This makes

it all the more vulnerable to zoonotic diseases.

 

In the US, there was a potent stray dog problem 30 years ago with the

related risk of disease transmission, but the menace has now been

eliminated. The very same threat, however, persists in India. It also

assumes a different dimension in this country, where the risks of

contracting diseases from animals is very high because of the

population density in small areas. Recently, a call centre employee in

Delhi reported a serious skin rash after he came into contact with a

stray dog infected with mange.

 

Traditionally, the onset of any illness does not give rise to any

particular concern of an animal's involvement. But diseases like

pneumonia, dermatitis, pulmonary infarction and congenital birth

defects are all transmissible from animals to humans. In Manipur, lung

flukes have jumped the species barrier from dogs to humans. There have

also been suspected cases of people developing gastric ulcers from

cats and dogs in India.

 

The prevalence of ascaris or round worms is a common occurrence in

dogs and rural and suburban inhabitants are particularly susceptible

to infection. According to Jackson, this is principally due to the

transmission of the microbes from animal feces in human dwellings. He

suggested it is essential to separate toilets from living spaces in

rural dwellings to avoid infection.

 

 

PET ALARM: The Williams at Rotary Sadan, Calcutta (Picture by Debashis

Chakraborti)

Leptospirosis is yet another virus carried by animals that can prove

fatal for humans. Hosted by rats, dogs and cattle, the virus can

manifest itself in humans with deadly effect. A sharp rise in

leptospirosis cases has also been noted in cities, where the rat

population has grown owing to the preponderance of garbage and, in

some cases, the absence of predators.

 

Zoonotic diseases have periodically ravaged humanity, the couple says.

They, however, added that science is gradually getting more attuned to

such epidemics. It is apparent that such contagious ailments can be

contained by judicious scientific application of medicine and

prophylactic measures. But some diseases like rabies still give

science the slip. Stressing the fact that this virus causes 100 per

cent fatality the world over and there is no cure for the disease,

Jackson says, " The majority of people who perish from rabies in India

are children. "

 

Zoonotic diseases can affect virtually any part of the human body,

including the liver, lung, brain, kidneys and gall bladder. The

dangers lie in the ability of viruses to proliferate and mutate

widely.

 

Statistics quoted from tea estates show almost 100 per cent of pet

canines harbour zoonotic diseases. About 94 per cent of these animals

are also carriers of hook worms. And the maladies do not only rage in

tea estates but in the heart of cities too. Almost 91 per cent of

Calcutta's dogs and cats carry multiple infections of zoonotic

diseases and the unchecked growth of the canine and feline population

may prove to be insidious for human health if not efficiently attended

to.

 

The speakers did not recommend en masse culling of stray animals. Nor

was drumming up of public hysteria and antipathy towards animals

suggested. " We always emphasise that the most effective way to deal

with zoonotic diseases is the sterilisation and vaccination of stray

animals. As the old aphorism goes, 'Prevention is always better than

cure', " says Amanda.

 

Highlighting the need for public and private sector involvement in

combating zoonotic diseases, the speakers commended city organisations

that are attempting to deal with the problem. Some pet food companies

have also offered to assist organisations involved in fighting the

zoonotic disease scourge.