BURDENS OF ANIMAL ENVIRONMENT ON HUMAN HEALTH

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Dept . of Animal Hygiene and Management Faculty of Vet. Medicine Cairo Uni.

Abstract

Our environment is affected by a great variety of pollutants and emerging infectious diseases. The public health threats are affected by the relationship between people and the physical, chemical, and biological nature of our natural environments .Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, water contamination, airborne contaminants, bioaccumulative contaminants in the food chain, and environment threat to public health. Workers, area residents, and the communities located downstream or down-wind of the animals may find themselves with a lot of problems on their hands. Zoo animals, backyard wildlife, pets, and livestock, all serve the public as valuable "First Alert" systems for emerging infectious diseases. Animal symptoms and responses to conditions around them can serve as an early warning system for potential threats to human health .Arthropods, such as fleas, ticks, or mosquitos, are common vectors that transfer disease from an infected individual to others, be they wild or domestic animals or people. Ticks can carry pathogens that are the causes of Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis or babesiosis. Earthworms, swallows, bats, other wildlife, and even our pets are all animal sentinels alerting us to disease, allergens, and contaminants in our environment. Bats have long served informally as public health surveillance systems for rabies. Prairie dogs are also valuable wildlife informants, alerting us to the occurrence and spread of plague. Rodents ,commercially bred or trapped in the wild, may be infected with a number of zoonotic infections, including Salmonella, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) , Machupo virus hemorrhagic fevers , murine typhus, tularemia, and plague . Free-living amoebae are natural reservoirs of many types of bacteria such as Legionella spp., Burkholderia pickettii, Vibrio cholerae, Mycobacterium avium and Listeria monocytogenes. Amoebae in cooling towers and water treatment facility biofilms are considered the primary reservoir for pathogenic legionellae. The greatest environmental and health challenges are odor, air pollution, surface and ground water pollution, and antibiotic resistance. Widespread pool of antibiotic- resistant microbes from which resistance could be transferred back into human and animal disease organisms. Developing countries might suffer the worst consequences because of the poor state of their health services and their inability to pay for alternatives to cheap antibiotics. Most industrial operations store waste in massive lagoons that can hold millions of gallons of liquid manure. They may spread or spray some of the manure on available land. Hog; are often cited as the most problematic with respect to waste storage and removal, but there are numerous examples of pollution problems originating in cattle  feedlots, industrial dairies, and poultry operations. The three primary sources of odour and air contaminants from poultry production are barns, manure storages and land application of manure. Air contaminants released from these sources include micro-organisms, particulate matter (dust), endotoxins and gases. Gases include ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, methan, sulphur and nitrogen compounds. Poultry manure considered as the largest source of excess phosphorus and nitrogen. One-third of all wells in Maryland’s chicken. High nitrate concentrations in drinking water can cause blue baby syndrome and may contribute to developmental defects in fetuses or miscarriages in pregnant women. The impact of odour on health and well- being causes concern, the Psychological effects of odour, Include irritation and the Physiological effects can occur through exposure to specific compounds that make up odour, as asphyxiation from exposure to elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in a confined space. Odour from poultry manure is made up of about 160 compounds. Gases emitted from livestock operations can impact climate change, acid rain, nuisance, odour and water quality. Total dust emitted from poultry facilities includes all airborne particles, while respirable dust is less than 10 microns in size and can cause eye and throat irritation and potentially contribute to respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic bronchitis. Organic dust may react in the respiratory tract of humans and poultry. Airborne organic particles in poultry bars generally have high protein content and have been associated with allergic reactions, Dust concentrations in poultry houses usually vary between 0.02 and 81 mg/m3 for inhalable dust and between 0.01 and 6.5 mg/m3 for respirable dust. Intensive swine production generates odorous emissions which flow from the buildings housing the animals. High ventilation rates bring in fresh air, remove heat and moisture and enhance pork productivity. Numerous compounds contribute to the uniquely offensive odors from swine facilities, including fatty acids, amines, aromatics and sulfur compounds. Dust particles, which originate predominantly from feces and feed, can adsorb and concentrate odorants in swine facilities. Organic particles can decay and generate odorous compounds. Odorants can exist in much higher concentrations in the dust particles than in equivalent volumes of air. Thus, inhalation of odorous dust and deposition of the dust particles in the mucus overlying the olfactory mucosa are likely responsible for some odor-related complaints by swine farm neighbors. Accurate prediction of odor transport and dispersion downwind from swine farms may require models of dust dispersion and correlation between dust and odorant levels. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides, if handled or applied improperly threat human health. Airborne spray droplets, mists or vapours arise from these sources. Storing large amounts of pesticides increases the potential for a significant pesticide spill to occur.  Integrated livestock-fish production has been the possible connection between such practices and the emergence of influenza pandemics. Recently, livestock and fish have been implicated in the irregular occurrence of influenza pandemics. Poultry-cum fish integrated aquaculture system showed contamination of water and fish by fecal contamination, streptococci and coliforms. Livestock and fish are involved in both passive and active transfer of a range of parasites and diseases to humans. Consumption of raw, certain types of processed, or undercooked fish should be avoided. Molluscan shellfish have been implicated in numerous outbreaks of food-borne disease when they are consumed raw as Salmonella and Vibrio cholerae. Food-borne parasitic hazards are associated with the consumption of raw (sushi) or insufficiently heated, marinated and salted seafood. Mussels and oysters, in particular, are implicated more than any other marine animal in seafood illnesses. They bioaccumulate both metal and organic contaminants, as well as concentrate microbial organisms including human pathogens as Streptococcus sp. Increasingly found in cultured tilapias, S. iniae and other Streptococci that infect fish may also infect humans. Infections have been contracted when people market live fish, or consumers are cut or spined during handling or preparation of the fish. The disease appears most prevalent in intensive tilapia production systems, Legionella are widespread in natural aquatic environments. They are prevalent in anthropogenic water such as drinking water, whirlpools, and cooling tower reservoirs. Aerosol-generating systems aid in the transmission of Legionella from water to the air. Human inhalation of contaminated aerosols leads to Legionella infection and disease outbreaks as Legionnaires’ an acute, self-limiting,  non-pneumonic condition known as Pontiac fever. Extrapulmonary infection, especially in immunosuppressed patients. Wet fish in storage associated with spoilage gases including carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia. A fatal case of methane and cyanide poisoning. Chemicals may accumulate more in slow- growing, carnivorous species than well-fed, short-lived farmed fish. Chemical hazards may arise from the use of agrochemicals, chemotheropeutants, metals, feed ingredients and organic pollutants. Drug residues that risk human health are of key interest. Exposure to metals, from chronic or acute pollution of aquatic systems, their use as anti-foulants and molluscides or through their inclusion as growth promoters in livestock diets. The risk of accumulation of both drug residues and heavy metals in tissues of fish raised in semi-intensive systems is probably lower than fish raised intensively because direct use of feed additives and chemotheropeutants is very limited. Micro- algae and detrital bacteria that serve as food for cultured finfish and crustaceans produce most toxic compounds affecting aquaculture. The toxins produced by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), microcystins, are particularly potent and widespread in fertilized freshwaters. The microbial activities in aquatic environments significantly influence arsenic cycles such as the turnover between inorganic arsenic and organoarsenic compounds. We should follow the passed county planning or zoning regulations to keep large-scale livestock facilities out. Set limits on the number of animals allowed in a facility or set average requirements; dictate “setback” regulations that require facilities to be a certain number of feet from a road, waterway, or property line. The Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act must be strengthened to better address pollution and odor Permitting requirements should be more strict, and the public review process must be through. Proper sanitation.* Reducing the dust originating from feed.*Managing relative humidity inside poultry farms, Dust masks are essential, Dispose of the dead animal within 48 hours of death, by: Burial. , Incineration and Transportation to a rendering plant for disposal. Scavenging (under very restricted circumstances)

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