Abstract

BARRETO ARGILAGOS, Guillermo; RODRIGUEZ TORRENS, Herlinda  and  BARRETO RODRIGUEZ, Herlinda. Three erroneously underestimated zoonoses may increase their global impact under covid-19 umbrella. Rev Salud Anim. [online]. 2022, vol.44  Epub Oct 11, 2022. ISSN 2224-4700.

Since ancient times, both humans and animals have suffered from three diseases: tuberculosis, leptospirosis and brucellosis. During the 80's of the 20th century, it was assumed that they were totally under control, but there was an ill-advised decision that made possible their underestimation and persistence up to the present. The purpose of this review was to warn about erroneous criteria that sustain the underestimation of three lethal zoonoses whose effects will be exacerbated in the midst of COVID-19. Although there are multiple factors involved, it is emphasized that: a) there has never been total control of these diseases; b) they are not an exclusive problem of the less socially and economically favored geographic areas; c) the deficit of resources for diagnosis and health services in the latter limits the real statistics of their worldwide impact; and d) most research is not focused from the One Health approach, being a bias that minimizes or obviates the effects of the zoonotic component and the environment. The above limitations, despite the fact that tuberculosis has been recognized as the most lethal pandemic to humanity, have delayed the decision for its global eradication until 2018. The unquestionable attention demanded by COVID-19, as a pandemic since 2020, will further affect the care of these diseases and their control, thus increasing their unnoticed lethal impact. Addressing these mistakes would be a first step towards the adoption of global measures aimed at a more effective control of these three ancestral diseases in force in the 21st century.

Keywords : Brucellosis; leptospirosis; pandemic; tuberculosis; zoonosis.

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