World Zoonoses Day --July 6

World Zoonoses Day is celebrated on July 6 

A zoonosis is a disease that is transmitted from animals to man. The most talked of these days are leptospirosis, and "mad cow disease" (not prevalent in India), but by far the deadliest of all is rabies.

It is essential to have oneself and one's pets vaccinated against these diseases. All food animals need to also be regularly vaccinated, or their meat would not be fit for consumption. However, most people have a rather casual attitude towards vaccination, some even fear it. World Zoonoses Day is celebrated on July 6 every year to bring the problem into people's consciousness, and remind them to take action.

Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans. India being an agricultural country, more than 80 per cent of the rural population lives in close association with animals. Thus, the chances of transmission of such diseases are high. More than 60 per cent of newly identified infectious agents affecting humans are zoonotic infections, the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) reports show. What is alarming is that India, with 1.4 million cases reported across 13 States and 10 districts, is becoming a hot spot for zoonotic diseases.

With 20 cases of H1N1 infections registered in the State recently, the need to create effective awareness among the public about preventive care against zoonotic diseases gains importance. 

This day is the anniversary of the invention of Rabies vaccine by the scientist Louis Pasteur.

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease. He was best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of microbiology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. Pasteur also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry, most notably the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals. His body lies beneath the Institute Pasteur in Paris in a spectacular vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics.

The rabies vaccine was initially created by Emile Roux, a French doctor and a colleague of Pasteur who had been working with a killed vaccine produced by desiccating the spinal cords of infected rabbits. The vaccine had been tested only on eleven dogs before its first human trial.This vaccine was first used on 9-year old Joseph Meister, on July 6, 1885, after the boy was badly mauled by a rabid dog. This was done at some personal risk for Pasteur, since he was not a licensed physician and could have faced prosecution for treating the boy. After consulting with colleagues, Pasteur decided to go ahead with the treatment. Meister did not contract the disease. It is sometimes said that Pasteur saved the boy's life; but this cannot be maintained with certainty, since the risk of contracting rabies after such an exposure is estimated at around 15%. Nonetheless, Pasteur was hailed as a hero and the legal matter was not pursued. The treatment's success laid the foundations for the manufacture of many other vaccines. The first of the Pasteur Institutes was also built on the basis of this achievement.

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