Health ministry steps up its fight against zoonotic diseases
New Delhi: In the aftermath of covid, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry increasing its focus on zoonotic diseases – infections that are spread between people and animals – according to a report by the ministry.
The move comes in the wake of several zoonotic disease outbreaks, including from the Nipah and Zika viruses. The ministry noted last year that 75% of new infectious diseases that have emerged over past three decades have been zoonotic.
An official at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said, “We are planning to have augmented zoonotic diseases surveillance at the human-wildlife interface. There is a need for better understanding of specific drivers. Understanding the mechanisms of zoonotic diseases is crucial to preparing for future outbreaks.”
The NCDC said it aims to eradicate diseases that are spread by dogs, such as rabies and leptospirosis, and to prevent and control venomous snake bites.
The health ministry had earlier said that limited knowledge and skill in identifying zoonotic diseases, coupled with limited diagnostic facilities at all levels, has resulted in such diseases being neglected. In 2022 the government launched the National One Health Mission, a cross-ministerial effort to review areas of focus.
The health ministry is already implementing various national programmes through NCDC, including the National One Health Programs for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses (NOHPPCZ), National Rabies Control Programs (NRCP), Program for Prevention and Control of Leptospirosis (PPCL), Snake Bite Prevention and Control (SBPC), National Programme on AMR Containment, and the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCHH).
Apart from zoonotic diseases, the NCDC had also raised the alarm on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which happens when germs like bacteria, viruses and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them.
According to the World Health Organisation, zoonotic pathogens may be bacterial, viral or parasitic, and can spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment.
Common zoonotic diseases in India include rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, plague, bovine tuberculosis, leptospirosis and salmonellosis.
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Published: 07 Jan 2024, 11:12 AM IST
