zoonotic disease | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Linda

A zoonotic disease is one that can be transmitted from animals to humans. For example, pigs appear to be the reservoir of the Hepatitis E virus. Researchers have found the virus in more than 10% of pig livers being sold, suggesting that pork intake may raise Hepatitis E risk. The risk of zoonotic infection is a possible reason why poultry and other meat industry workers have a higher risk of cancer death than other worker groups.

To learn more about zoonotic disease risks, see also these topics: Ciguatera, E. coli, Eggs, Epilepsy, Hand washing, MRSA, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Parasites, Rabies, and Salmonella.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Zoonotic Disease

44 videos

All Videos for Zoonotic Disease

A clipboard, pen, and graphs with stethoscope

The Negative Effects and Benefits of Plant-Based Diets

What are the pros and cons of plant-based eating?

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic

We need to reform the food system before it’s too late.

The COVID-19 Pandemic May Just Be a Dress Rehearsal

The COVID-19 Pandemic May Just Be a Dress Rehearsal

There may be an even deadlier pandemic threat waiting in the wings…of chickens.

How COVID-19 Ends- Vaccination, Mutations, and Herd Immunity

How COVID-19 Ends: Vaccination, Mutations, and Herd Immunity

What should we expect in the coming months and years with SARS-CoV-2?

The Best Mask or DIY Face Covering for COVID-19

The Best Mask or DIY Face Covering for COVID-19

Twenty different materials put to the test.

What to Do if You Come Down With COVID-19

What to Do If You Come Down with COVID-19

Can pets like cats and dogs get infected and be infectious?

Hand Washing & Sanitizing to Inactivate COVID-19 Coronavirus

Hand Washing and Sanitizing to Inactivate COVID-19 Coronavirus

My recipes for DIY hand sanitizer and surface disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2.

How to Avoid COVID-19

How to Avoid COVID-19

How long can the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus survive on surfaces like paper?

Would Zinc Lozenges Help With COVID-19?

Would Zinc Lozenges Help with COVID-19?

Zinc may help slow the replication of other coronaviruses, but what about SARS-CoV-2?

The Immune System and COVID-19 Treatment

The Immune System and COVID-19 Treatment

Are there immune-boosting foods we should be eating?

Modifiable Risk Factors and Comorbidities for Severe COVID-19 Infection

Modifiable Risk Factors and Comorbidities for Severe COVID-19 Infection

There are things you can do right now to reduce your risk of falling seriously ill and dying from this disease.

COVID-19 Symptoms vs. the Flu, a Cold, or Allergies

COVID-19 Symptoms vs. the Flu, a Cold, or Allergies

What does the clinical course of COVID-19 look like for both those who survive and those who don’t?

Social Distancing, Lockdowns & Testing- How to Slow the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social Distancing, Lockdowns, and Testing: How to Slow the COVID-19 Pandemic

What can we learn from other countries and the 1918 pandemic to slow COVID-19?

R0 and Incubation Periods- How Other Coronavirus Outbreaks Were Stopped

R0 and Incubation Periods: How Other Coronavirus Outbreaks Were Stopped

Why can’t we stop COVID-19 like we stopped SARS and MERS, the other two 21st century coronavirus outbreaks?

The Last Coronavirus Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Livestock

The Last Coronavirus Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Livestock

The next coronavirus pandemic may come from pigs not pangolins.

Where Did the COVID-19 Coronavirus Come From?

Where Did the COVID-19 Coronavirus Come From?

The role wet markets, wildlife trafficking, and pangolins have played in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2.

The SARS Coronavirus and Wet Markets

The SARS Coronavirus and Wet Markets

The role live animal markets and the trade in exotic animals have played in the emergence of deadly coronavirus outbreaks.

Where Do Deadly Coronaviruses Like MERS-CoV Come From?

Where Do Deadly Coronaviruses Like MERS-CoV Come From?

In the last 17 years, there have been three new deadly coronavirus epidemics, but where do emerging diseases emerge from?

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Pandemics: History and Prevention

How to treat the cause by preventing the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place (a video I recorded more than a decade ago when I was Public Health Director at the HSUS in Washington DC).

The Role of Burger Viruses in Cancer

The Role of Burger Viruses in Cancer

Polyomaviruses discovered in meat can survive cooking and pasteurization.

Which Intestines for Food & Cosmetics?

The FDA appears to have caved to industry pressure and allows intestines potentially infected with mad cow disease prions into food products and lipstick.

Meat Consumption and the Development of Type 1 Diabetes

Meat Consumption and the Development of Type 1 Diabetes

Eating meat during breastfeeding is associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, perhaps a consequence of meat glycotoxins or paratuberculosis bacteria that may be passed though breast milk.

Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?

Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?

“Fear of consumer reaction” led the U.S. dairy industry to suppress the discovery in retail milk of live paraTB bacteria, a pathogen linked to type 1 diabetes.

The Role of Poultry Viruses in Human Cancers

The Role of Poultry Viruses in Human Cancers

Does a cancer-causing herpes virus in chickens pose a public health threat?

closeup of cow at milking station

Industry Response to Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer

What was the response to the revelation that as many as 37 percent of breast cancer cases may be attributable to exposure to bovine leukemia virus, a cancer-causing cow virus found in the milk of nearly every dairy herd in the United States?

The Role of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Breast Cancer

As many as 37 percent of human breast cancer cases may be attributable to exposure to bovine leukemia virus.

Is Bovine Leukemia Virus in Milk Infectious?

Is Bovine Leukemia Virus in Milk Infectious?

The majority of U.S. dairy herds are infected with a cancer-causing virus, but until recently, human testing for exposure was not sufficiently sensitive.

Dr. Greger presenting to an audience

HOW NOT TO DIE: The Role of Diet in Preventing, Arresting, & Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

In this “best-of” compilation of his last four year-in-review presentations, Dr. Greger explains what we can do about the #1 cause of death and disability: our diet.

Why is Meat a Risk Factor for Diabetes?

Why Is Meat a Risk Factor for Diabetes?

Potential culprits include the trans fat in meat, the saturated fat, cholesterol, heme iron, advanced glycation end products (glycotoxins), animal protein (especially leucine), zoonotic viruses, and industrial pollutants that accumulate up the food chain.

turmeric powder on the white background

Turmeric Curcumin, MGUS, & Multiple Myeloma

Which plant and animal foods are associated with the development of multiple myeloma, and what effect might the spice turmeric have on the progression of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance?

illustration of bacteria

C. difficile Superbugs in Meat

Why does the United States appear to have the highest level of C. diff contamination of the meat supply?

Ciguatera Poisoning & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Ciguatera Poisoning & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The effects of the neurotoxins that can contaminate fish like red snapper and grouper can last for decades.

Who Says Eggs Aren't Healthy or Safe?

Who Says Eggs Aren’t Healthy or Safe?

Freedom of Information Act documents reveal that the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned the egg industry that saying eggs are nutritious or safe may violate rules against false and misleading advertising.

workers at a slaughterhouse

Eating Outside Our Kingdom

A higher rate of cancer deaths among those that handle and process meat is attributed to infection with viruses, and chronic exposure to animal proteins.

close-up of a sick dog

Foodborne Rabies

The consumption of cat and dog meat may be playing a role in “massive human rabies epidemics” in Asia. (Some people may find some of the concepts and images in this video disturbing.)

snippets of studies on brain parasitosis

Not So Delusional Parasitosis

Delusional parasitosis is a form of psychosis characterized by the false belief that one is infested with some sort of parasite. It can be triggered by a variety of brain diseases, including parasites themselves.

illustration of hands with their fingers numbered, under the heading "what are the top 10 carries of infectious agents?"

Hand Washing Compliance of Retail Deli Workers

How often do retail deli workers wash their hands, at both independent and chain stores? This is important, given the potential for life-threatening blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C.

shelves of packaged meat

MRSA in U.S. Retail Meat

More than a thousand retail meat samples have been tested for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination in North America.

photo of a pig slaughterhouse alongside an article snippet

Airborne MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus “superbug” found not only contaminating the U.S. retail meat supply, but isolated from air samples outside swine CAFOs.

grocery store shelves of packaged meat

U.S. Meat Supply Flying at Half Staph

An investigation finds 47% of U.S. retail meat tested is contaminated with staph (Staphylococcus) bacteria. Turkey appears most likely to harbor contagion.

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