A zoonotic disease is an illness that can pass from animals to humans, a hazard for workers in agriculture, veterinary care, labs, and meat processing.
An infectious illness that can be transmitted between animals and humans through direct contact, bites or scratches, contaminated materials, airborne particles, or insect vectors. Workers in agriculture, veterinary medicine, animal research, meat and poultry processing, and wildlife management face elevated occupational exposure risk.
A poultry farm adopts biosecurity measures — including respirators, eye protection, and dedicated coveralls — for workers handling birds during an avian influenza outbreak to reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission.
Examples include brucellosis, Q fever, leptospirosis, psittacosis, rabies, avian influenza, and tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease, with risk depending on the animals and environments involved.
Common controls include handwashing and hygiene facilities, appropriate PPE, animal health monitoring, safe handling and restraint practices, pest and vector control, and, where available, vaccination for high-risk roles.
Yes, prompt reporting allows medical evaluation and, for exposures like potential rabies, timely treatment that can be critical; it also helps employers identify and address gaps in controls.
Part of SafetyIQ's EHS glossary: plain-English definitions of workplace health and safety terms.
> Keep learning
> See it in action
Capture hazards, run inspections, track training and close out corrective actions in one platform built for high-risk, field-heavy work.
Book my free demo
Get a demo built around your sites, your teams, and the way your people work.
EHS, journey, and fatigue management software for field-heavy teams.
.png){kind=logo}
.png)