Food-Borne Zoonoses and EU Green Policies

Zoonotic agents are pathogens with an unrestricted host spectrum. In nature, their survival occurs in reservoir animal species, which generally do not present clinical symptoms and, therefore, are difficult to identify. Promiscuity between farmed animals and wildlife increases the risk of transmission of pathogens and their consequent adaptation to new host species, including human beings. Therefore, promiscuity increases the risk of emergence of new zoonoses. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), zoonoses represent 60% of human infectious diseases and 75% of the emerging ones; 80% of pathogens of animal origin have strong potential as bioterrorism agents. Deforestation and destruction of natural areas produce promiscuity, pushing wild species to invade new areas and to arrive in anthropic environments. In high-income countries, domesticated animals are as much a potential reservoir of high-risk zoonoses as the wildlife animals in equatorial rainforests or wet markets.