Guidance

List of zoonotic diseases

Updated 21 January 2019

1. Zoonotic diseases found in the UK

Disease	Organism	Main reservoirs	Usual mode of transmission to humans
Anthrax	Bacillus anthracis	livestock, wild animals, environment	direct contact, ingestion, inhalation
Animal influenza	Influenza A viruses	pigs, other livestock, humans	direct contact
Avian influenza	Influenza A viruses	poultry, ducks	direct contact
Bovine tuberculosis	Mycobacterium bovis	cattle	unpasteurised milk, exposure to tuberculous animals
Campylobacteriosis	Campylobacter spp.	poultry, farm animals	direct animal contact, raw meat, milk
Cat scratch fever	Bartonella henselae	cats	bite, scratch
Cowpox	Cowpox virus	rodents	direct contact (usually with cats)
Cryptosporidiosis	Cryptosporidium spp	cattle, sheep, pets	contaminated water, direct contact
Cysticercosis / Taeniasis	Taenia spp.	cattle, pigs	raw/undercooked meat
Erysipeloid	Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae	pigs, fish, environment	direct contact, fomites, environment
Fish tank / swimming pool granuloma	Mycobacterium marinum	fish	contact with fish or contaminated water
Giardiasis	Giardia spp	humans, wildlife	contaminated water, ingestion
Haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)	Shiga toxin-producing E. coli	ruminants	direct contact, foodborne
Hantavirus syndromes	Hantaviruses	rodents	aerosolised excreta
Hepatitis E	Hepatitis E virus	pigs, wild boar, deer	undercooked animal meats
Hydatid disease	Echinococcus granulosus	dogs, sheep	ingestion of eggs excreted by dog
Leptospirosis	Leptospira spp	rodents, ruminants	urine-contaminated water or direct contact
Listeriosis	Listeria spp.	cattle, sheep, soil	dairy produce, meat products
Louping ill	Louping ill virus	sheep, grouse	direct contact, tick bite
Lyme disease	Borrelia burgdorferi	ticks, rodents, deer, sheep, small mammals	tick bite
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis	Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)	rodents	direct contact
Orf	Orf virus	sheep, goats	direct contact
Ovine chlamydiosis	Chlamydia abortus	sheep, farm animals	direct contact, aerosol
Pasteurellosis	Pasteurella spp	dogs, cats, many mammals	bite/scratch, direct contact
Psittacosis	Chlamydia psittaci	psittacine birds, poultry, ducks	aerosol, direct contact
Q fever	Coxiella burnetii	cattle, sheep, goats, cats	aerosol, direct contact, products of conception, fomites
Rabies	Rabies virus and other lyssaviruses	bats only in the UK	Bite or scratch
Rat bite fever	Streptobacillus moniliformis	rats	bite/scratch, milk, water
Ringworm	Dermatophyte fungi	many animal species	direct contact
Salmonellosis	Salmonella spp.	poultry, farm animals	direct animal contact, raw meat, other raw foods
Streptococcal sepsis	Streptococcus suis	pigs	direct contact, meat
Streptococcal sepsis	Streptococcus zooepidemicus	horses	direct contact
Toxocariasis	Toxocara canis/catis	dogs, cats	ingestion
Toxoplasmosis	Toxoplasma gondii	cats, ruminants	ingestion of faecal oocysts, meat
Zoonotic diphtheria	Corynebacterium ulcerans	cattle, farm animals, dogs	direct contact, milk

2. Selected zoonotic diseases exotic to the UK

Disease	Organism	Main reservoirs	Usual mode of transmission to humans
Alveolar echinococcosis	Echinococcus multilocularis	foxes	ingestion of eggs
Brucellosis	Brucella spp.	cattle, goats, sheep, pigs	dairy products, milk
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF)	CCHF virus	livestock, ticks	tick bite, direct contact animal blood
Ebola virus disease	Ebola virus	unknown, possibly bats	wild animals
Glanders	Burkholderia mallei	horse, donkey, mule	direct contact, contaminated fomites, food and water
Hendra virus infection	Hendra virus	fruit bats, horses	exposure to body fluids
Kyasanur Forest disease	Kyasanur Forest virus	rodents, shrews, and monkeys	tick bite, direct animal contact
Lassa fever	Lassa virus	multimammate rat	direct or indirect contact with infected rodent excreta
Marburg virus disease	Marburg virus	bats	bats
MERS	MERS Coronavirus	dromedary camels	direct and indirect contact
Monkeypox	Monkeypox virus	rodents	direct contact
Nipah virus infection	Nipah virus	fruit bats	contaminated date palm sap, close contact with infected pigs
Plague	Yersinia pestis	rats and their fleas	flea bite, scratches or bites from infected cats
Rabies	Rabies virus and other lyssaviruses	dogs, foxes, bats, cats	Bite or scratch
Rift Valley fever	Rift Valley fever virus	cattle, goats, sheep	direct contact, mosquito bite
Tickborne encephalitis	Tickborne encephalitis virus	rodents, small mammals, livestock	tick bite, unpasteurised milk products
Trichinellosis	Trichinella spiralis	pigs, wild boar	undercooked or raw meat
Tularemia	Francisella tularensis	rabbits, wild animals, ticks,	direct contact, aerosol, ticks, inoculation
West Nile virus infection	West Nile virus	wild birds, mosquitoes	mosquito bite
Yellow fever	Yellow fever virus	monkeys	mosquito bite