The BSE epidemic heightened awareness of the importance of zoonotic diseases and its impact on human and animal health. Today, there are new zoonotic diseases emerging mainly caused by viruses that can infect both humans and animals. An important and well known example of this type of disease is the avian influenza or bird flu. The 5th International Conference on Emerging Zoonoses, which took place November 15th through 18th in Cyprus, focussed on finding solutions to these new diseases.

Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. A well-known example of a zoonosis is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and its human counterpart variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). This zoonosis was one of the topics discussed at the Cyprus conference. vCJD is a relatively new disease and today its impact on the human population remains unclear.

Tuberculosis, a serious bacterial zoonosis
Another important zoonosis is Bovine Tuberculosis, which is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. This bacterium normally infects cattle, however it is known to spread to other species and may bring about Tuberculosis in humans. The bacterium can be spread from animals to humans through aerosols or through the consumption of unpasteurized milk or dairy products from infected cows. Prionics has carried out considerable research on this disease and today offers the BOVIGAM^® test for highly effective and efficient detection of tuberculosis in cattle. At the Cyprus conference Dr. Irene Schiller of Prionics presented information on how this highly sensitive test can be further improved by the use of optimized tuberculin concentrations in the stimulation reaction.

New threats from emerging viral zoonoses
Many new emerging zoonoses are diseases related to the Flaviviruses and Bunyaviruses. An increased geographical spread of these viruses has been observed world-wide. Since both Flaviviruses and Bunyaviruses are vector borne (humans are mostly infected by mosquito bites) the distribution of these vectors is a highly important factor influencing the spread of disease. Changes in climate have also been shown to trigger epidemics. Moreover, an important factor is that the viruses are capable of adapting to local vectors. It is imperative that solutions be found to effectively detect the causative agent of the viruses to prevent these diseases from developing further and spreading.