Actualités sur les zoonose émergentes et résurgentes

News on emerging and resurging zoonoses Emerging and resurging zoonoses, with their sometimes dramatic medical and/or economic consequences, are becoming an increasing problem due to the intensification of human and animal movements, environmental changes, and the risk of bioterrorism. Veterinary surgeons play a key role in our improving understanding of these diseases, as over 70% of human infectious diseases have an animal reservoir. The origin of theses zoonoses may be food, e. g. infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli or Cryptosporidium parvum, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Others have emerged in immunocompromised patients. Some zoonoses are more frequent among people working in animal husbandry (leptospirosis, brucellosis, avian chlamydophilosis, porcine streptococcal infection, Nipah and Hendra virus infections, hantavirus infection). The emergence or extension of tick-borne viral and bacterial infections (with vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes) is remarkable : West Nile fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, Rift valley fever, bartonelloses, ehrlichiosis… It is important to identify the animal reservoir of these emerging zoonoses : production animals (avian influenza due to the highly pathogenic virus of subtype H5N1, hepatitis E…), pets (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, leishmaniasis…), exotic animals (salmonellosis, tularemia, hantavirosis), or wild animals (especially bats and rodents). Finally, some animal diseases may potentially become zoonoses (Borna disease, paratuberculosis, encephalomyocarditis…). A close collaboration between veterinary and human medicines is essential to update regularly the priorities of the control programmes for these zoonosis.