Animal-Borne Viruses of Relevance to the Food Industry


ILSI Europe Report Series. 2009:1-60.

A number of animal-borne diseases that are highly contagious between animals also have the potential to infect humans. This may necessitate interruption of sourcing raw materials, trade restriction of manufactured goods, or result in loss in sales of foods derived from animals suffering particular diseases. The diseases considered are notifiable to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and include Hepatitis E1, foot and mouth disease (FMD), vesicular stomatitis (VS), swine vesicular disease (SVD), bluetongue, lumpy skin disease (LSD), Rift Valley fever (RVF), Pestes des Petits Ruminants (PPR), classical swine fever (CSF), African swine fever (ASF), sheep and goat pox, Newcastle disease (ND), and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In some cases, the animal diseases are able to cause disease in humans. The routes of transmission and illness vary largely.

The diseases may be important for consumers or, more commonly, for individuals who handle contaminated raw materials i.e. occupational risk. In other cases, diseases pose no real threat to humans but nevertheless attract much attention. The report covers various aspects of these agents including their ecology, disease-causing ability, control measures and significance as foodborne human pathogens.

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