World Zoonosis Day observed on July 6.

• World Zoonoses Day was instituted on 6^th July 1885 to educate and raise awareness about zoonotic diseases that can transmit from animals to humans.
• It commemorates French biologist Louis Pasteur, who administered the first dose of the first vaccine against rabies.

What Are Zoonoses?

• Zoonosis or a zoonotic disease is an infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. Animals can often carry harmful germs which may spread to people and cause illnesses, known as zoonoses.
• Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi may cause zoonotic diseases. The pathogens may cause different types of illnesses in people and animals, ranging from mild to serious illness, and sometimes, death.
• There are over 200 known types of zoonoses, which comprise a large percentage of new and existing diseases in humans. Rabies is a zoonotic disease which is 100 per cent preventable through vaccination and other methods.
• Zoonotic pathogens may spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment, and represent a major public health problem around the world.