Resumo

ROJAS CHAVES, José Andrés. A holistic and transdisciplinary paradigm for studying zoonoses: conservation medicine. rev.fac.med. [online]. 2011, vol.59, n.1, pp.68-77. ISSN 0120-0011.

Sixty percent of emergent diseases affecting human beings are zoonoses; most of them (around 75%) originate in wild fauna. Many zoonotic diseases are common in domesticated animals used for production (meat, milk, eggs, rearing) due to the multiple interrelationships involved and many microorganisms' ability to mutate so as to colonize new hosts. Zoonoses directly affect livestock and public health and have become a serious limitation on exporting animal products and thus international trade. They seriously compromise food security, causing a high socioeconomic impact on agroexporting nations each year (i.e. most Latin-American countries). International organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the WHO recognize the need to change veterinary doctors' traditional view and propose focusing animal health services on early epidemiological prevention of zoonosis through holistic and transdiciplinary investigation through their joint initiative called the "One Health Approach". This article deals with the implications of wild zoonosis regarding animal and public health and touches on the topic of conservation medicine by making some reflections for Costa Rica.

Palavras-chave : zoonoses; communicable diseases; emerging; preventive medicine; social medicine; health organizations; public health.

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