Zoonotic Diseases Research Paper

Zoos have been around for 4,000 years, for many years people have gone to zoos to see wild animals up close. What people do not know is animals don't have the best interest in being in a zoo. The article, "Zoos: The Historical Debate" from Globalanimal.org discusses some pros (positive sides) and cons (negative sides) of zoos. As well as how millions of people visit zoos around the world and how some argue that zoos are either places of education and conversation or unnecessary prisons. After reading the article a logical conclusion is zoos are detrimental to animals.

Over the decades, the Sioux tribes have been forced out of their lands and treated unfairly, they were strictly permitted to a certain amount of land called reservations; therefore, they have a different point of view on society. In the article The Fighting Sioux: The End of a Legacy, Brittany Bergstrom, a graduate from the University of North Dakota, writes about the controversy between the University and the Sioux tribe over the nickname, “Fighting Sioux”. The American Indians are offended of how they are being portrayed, they want people to learn about their culture, lifestyles, and see them as peaceful, rather than violent and abusive; “Accordingly to the tribes, the term “Fighting Sioux” and the Indian head logo are disrespectful and,

Barbed wired barracks, portable potties, and partition-less showers. My grandfather reminisces his time spend at Manzanar Internment Camp. While my grandfather stood in the giant shadow of a 30-foot armed tower, 500-acres of Californian dessert enclosed nearly 12,000 Japanese Americans. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the removal and detainment of anyone in military territory. When “armed police went door to door rounding up Japanese Americans and ordering them straight to the camps” as my grandfather asserted, America’s national fear was exploited. My grandfather at the age of sixteen, lost his home, his family, and notably continued to face several obstacles postwar. Thousands of Japanese Americans during the 1940’s, including Ichiro in John Okada’s No-No Boy, have had their lives reshaped by new territories, boundaries and inner conflicts. The lost of family and friends was prevalent as racial prejudices intensified throughout the nation. While thousands of innocent families were victimized in the Japanese interment camps and imprisonments during WWII, the overwhelming distress led to corrupt relationships and inner turmoil.

A ‘spillover’ , also referred to as zoonosis, can be best described as a disease that has the capability to cross from another species to human beings. The scientists until now, have been successful in identifying approximately 200 zoonotic diseases. In the recommended book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, Davis Quammen has highlighted the emergence and significant effects of zoonotic both human and animal all over the Blue planet. He has covered a good number of the infamous diseases including the Ebola, HIV, malaria, SARS, influenza and Lyme disease.

The habitats the zoo animals live in are not secure enough. Not only can a person easily end up inside of an animal’s

There are thing that make people more susceptible to contracting zoonotic diseases. Either it’s knowingly or unknowingly, humans are prone to the dangers of being direct targets of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are transmittable in various ways weather

Of the 1,415 human pathogens, 61% are zoonotic and infect multiple animal species.4 This means out of the 1,415 pathogens 863 are zoonotic and can be passed to humans from animals. Some of the ways the emergence of pathogens occur are a mutation (canine parvovirus infection), climate change, invasive species, the introduction of a new species (intended or accidental), and biological products.4

Every year almost 175 million people visit a zoo, yet the mistreatment of animals in zoos goes almost completely unnoticed. This mistreatment is constantly swept under the rug by issues that society deems more relevant or impact us more. For example, issues like climate change receive more attention. However, this mistreatment is relevant and is constantly impacting society. These animals that are left malnourished, fatigued, and constantly fighting bacterial infections, are important. Every time an animal is pulled from the wild and put into captivity it impacts the mental health of the animal and endangers everyone and everything around it. Zoos are to blame for this endangerment, yet so is the public for overlooking mistreatment such as enclosures that are too small, surplus animals, and mental illness in animals.

From an ecological standpoint, human manipulation of the environment and animals puts us at a considerable threat. One major threat stems from the industrialization of the food industry, specifically with factory farming. While the mass production of chickens, cows, pigs, etc have benefitted the human population from a nutritional standpoint, they also create a system that allows for susceptibility to zoonotic diseases. SARS, for example, is believed to have made the ecological “jump” to humans from Civet cats being raised in China. Poor sanitation conditions, overcrowding, and constant human contact are all factors that lead to a virus being able to mutate quickly and easily into a zoonotic

Another reason the treatment of animals in zoos is humane is the health and the survival of the animals. “Veterinary care is readily available at most zoos” (Vittana 4). Many zoos have what is referred to as a “treatment room”. This is the place where an animal can be brought in for an examination so that's good health can be maintained. Veterinarians are no longer working on their own in these facilities either. Treatment teams include pathologists, technicians, zookeepers, and other specialists who can create and maintain virtually any care plan. Screenings quarantine procedures parasite removal and other common treatments are part of the standard care process now as well. “Zoos are staffed by individuals who are educated and trained in the physical and psychological needs of the animals in

Due to the severe and dangerous health concerns associated with animals held in captivity, it is shown that zoos just add to the animals’

The Journal of Internal Medicine has determined that 50 million people worldwide have been infected with zoonotic diseases from 2000 to 2006 and that about 78,000 of those people have died (Disease Threat From Exotic Pets). A profuse number of reptiles carry salmonella, and since they usually don’t exhibit any symptoms, there is no easy way of knowing which reptile is infected. “[About] 80% to 90% of all macaque monkeys are infected with Herpes B-virus or Simian B, a virus that is harmless to monkeys, but often fatal in humans” (Born free USA). The Ebola virus, monkeypox, and other fatal illnesses have also been known to be spread by

Zoos are terrible places for animals that do not belong in cages. Zoos include roadside zoos, petting zoos, and smaller animal exhibits. The animals they have are meant to be out in the wild not locked up in cages. The areas are not big enough for them to be animals. They are held in captivity with nowhere to go because if they try to break out, they are going to get shot down. Animals are not meant for entertainment. If you want to see an animal there are many websites with live cameras in order to see it. Also, if you want to see animals the animals should have a free range area and the people ride around in cars to look. The people should take the chances of getting beaten, eaten, trampled, etc. Zoos make money off poor animals who have no choice

One well known zoo is called The Zoo of Death. The suffering of the animals occurs there on a daily basis. Animals are confined to trash-littered, barren, cramped cages that are messily fractions the wild animals would call home. A former member of the zoo's management estimates that around fifty animals have died at the zoo in the last three months, which is just a small fraction of the animals who have suffered and died at the hands of this decrepit facility. Some monkeys even swing out of their cages to interact with the public. They will also scavenge the trash bins for any food they can get. They normally end up choking on the trash and dying. Nearly fifteen thousand people go to this heart wrenching zoo each weekend.(www.Peta.com.

A number of studies have supported the theory that the virus had originally occurred in animals previous to human infections.5 The MERs-CoV virus is a type of coronavirus that has been known for infecting both birds and many species of mammals. These types of infections are commonly referred to as zoonotic diseases because the pathogens are able to be transferred from animals to humans. Zoonosis can happen with or without a vector in order to spread the infection. Although the exact origin of the MERs-CoV infections is unknown, there has been convincing research performed that has found related types of coronaviruses in bats and camels. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus is found in multiple species and can cause respiratory illness and gastrointestinal upset.