VetBact

Introduction

In both veterinary and human medicine, infectious diseases (caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses etc.) are usually characterized according to different criteria, and here are some examples of classification of diseases within these two disciplines.

Enzootic corresponds to endemic in human medicine and an enzootic disease is a disease, which is always present in a certain animal population, but which at a certain time only affects a small number of animals. Enzootic pneumonia in pigs, caused by Mycoplasma hyopneuminiae, is an example of a bacterial-induced enzootia.

Epizootic corresponds to epidemic in human medicine and an epizootic disease, is a serious animal infectious disease that is widespread. Anthrax, which is caused by Bacillus anthracis, is an example of a bacterial epizootic disease.

A panzootic is a serious infectious disease, which spreads over large parts of the world and affects one or several species in many  countries. African swine fever is an exaple of a virus cause panzootic.The equivalent term in human medicin is pandemic and  cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, gave rise to three pandemics in the 19th century.

Zoonosis is a term used in both veterinary and human medicine, as it refers to infectious diseases, which can be transmitted between animals and humans via food, direct contact with infectious animals or through indirect contact with infectious animals via e.g. insect bites. Brucellosis, campylobacteriosis, bovine tuberculosis and salmonellosis are examples of zoonoses, which are caused by the following zoonotic bacteria: Brucella melitensis, Campylobacter jejuni, Mycobacterium bovis and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica.

Updated: 2024-02-08.