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This is a full transcript of the online presentation. For the presentation itself, go here.

Presented by:
Carina Blackmore, D.V.M., Ph.D.
State Public Health Veterinarian
Division of Environmental Health
Contact Number: 850-245-4732

Hello, I’m Dr. Carina Blackmore, the State Public Health Veterinarian from the Florida Department of Health. Today I’m going to be giving you an overview of Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Diseases.

What now is a zoonotic disease? That’s any disease, really, that can be transmitted from animal to man. The most common example  that you think about is rabies, which can be transmitted from animal to man by bite, but there any many different kinds of zoonotic disease. Many enterics, like Salmonella and E. Coli, can be transmitted from animals, but also skin diseases, like Cat Scratch Fever and Brucellosis.

So why are zoonotic diseases important in Florida? Well, there are many reasons for that. Many of the naturally occurring emerging diseases are zoonotic in origin--such as SARS, for example, and also pandemic influenza. Also, most of the bioterrorism agents that we track are of zoonotic origin. For example, Anthrax and Q fever are zoonotic, but also several of the vector-borne diseases, such as Plague and Tularemia. In fact, all of the diseases on the CDC’s Class A and Class B Bioterrorism watch list are zoonotic except smallpox.

I want to spend a few minutes talking about one of these diseases, and that’s plague. This is a disease that occurs naturally in the United States in some of the western states, where it’s found in the prairie dog population. There, it’s spread between prairie dogs and fleas, and people tend to get infected from biting fleas.

There are two major forms of the disease, Bubonic plague and Pneumonic plague, but when you talk about bioterrorism, the one that you’re most worried about is Pneumonic plague, because that’s the most severe form.

The Bubonic plague form that you usually get out in the west basically is an abscess you get at the site of the bite, and you can also get fever and swelling of the lymph nodes in the area. Pneumonic plague, on the other hand, can spread through the bloodstream to the lungs and cause very severe pneumonia, which could very well be fatal. So, again, that’s the form we’re worried about when it comes to bioterrorism.

What’s expected to happen is that plague may be disseminated through aerosols, and cause very sever pneumonia and high fatality. One thing it’s important to keep in mind when dealing with plague, even if it’s a bioterrorism event, is to not forget the animals, because the animals may get infected by the aerosols, and the animals can transmit the plague by bite.

So why are zoonotic diseases important in Florida? Well, there are many reasons for that. Many of the naturally occurring emerging diseases are zoonotic in origin--such as SARS, for example, and also pandemic influenza. Also, most of the bioterrorism agents that we track are of zoonotic origin. For example, Anthrax and Q fever are zoonotic, but also several of the vector-borne diseases, such as Plague and Tularemia. In fact, all of the diseases on the CDC’s Class A and Class B Bioterrorism watch list are zoonotic except smallpox.

When we talk about zoonotic disease outbreaks, of course, there may be natural outbreaks as well as bioterrorism events against livestock or people. I don’t want you to ignore zoonotic outbreaks of natural origin. For example, just keep in mind the recent outbreakdthat we’ve had in the United States of West Nile. It was first found in New York City in 1999, and in the last 5 years, we’ve had more than 14,000 human cases of West Nile, and many thousands of horse deaths as well. Again, this is a natural outbreak that nobody expected, but that we still need to be prepared for.

When it comes to bioterrorism, though, what’s important to keep in mind is that many of the diseases we’re looking at we believe are going be spread by direct contact or aerosol. A couple of the mosquito-borne diseases can be spread that way, for example VEE and EEE, and both of those viruses are on the bioterrorism list.

When it comes to bioterrorism attacks against livestock, I’ve already mentioned the huge natural outbreak they had in Great Britain a few years ago of Hoof and Mouth disease. There are many severely contagious disease that may be used as bioterrorism against that can cause huge outbreaks with a lot of economic loss. In Great Britain in 2001, for example, the outbreak cost more than 10 billion dollars-and more than a million cows were destroyed in the process.

Another thing to keep in mind when preparing for a weaponized bioterrorism attack is that although the target may be people, pets and livestock may be more susceptible when the agents are released into the environment. And also keep in mind that the people who work with these animals may be the first to come in contact with the Bioterrorism agent.

So when you plan for Bioterrorism events, it’s important to work with everyone that has experience with zoonotic diseases. Another example of when that became very important is during the 2001 anthrax attacks. Anthrax is a zoonotic disease, and the veterinary community has a lot of experience with that disease.

So, in conclusion, it’s very important to keep the zoonotic diseases in mind when you prepare your bioterrorism response. Knowing and understanding these diseases will be very important in coming years. Thank you for your attention.