What is Zoonosis?
[[File:Burying Plague Victims of Tournai.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[bubonic plague]], a zoonotic disease, killed one-third of Europe's population in the 1300s. This painting from ''The Chronicles of Gilles Li Muisis'' show people burying plague victims]] '''Zoonosis''' or a '''zoonotic disease''' is an [[infectious disease]] which an animal can give to a human. These diseases may be caused by [[bacteria]], [[virus]]es, [[fungi]], or [[parasite]]s.<ref name=cdc>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/zoonotic-diseases.html|title=Toxoplasmosis |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=October 18, 2013 |website=One Health |publisher=United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |accessdate=February 11, 2016 |quote=}}</ref> Zoonotic [[disease]]s are very common. About 60% of all infectious diseases in humans are spread by animals.<ref>Taylor L.H; Latham S.M. & Woolhouse M.E.J. 2001. Risk factors for human disease emergence. ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'' '''356''' (1411): 983–989. [http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/356/1411/983]</ref> Zoonotic diseases can be spread in different ways. They may be spread from a sick animal directly to a human {{ndash}} for example, through bites and infected [[saliva]] (like with [[rabies]]), or through the air. This is called ''direct zoonosis''. Zoonotic diseases can also be spread through a [[vector (biology)|vector]]. This is an animal that carries the [[pathogen]] that causes the disease without getting infected. Diseases like this are called ''vector-borne diseases''. Sometimes the vector picks up the disease from another animal. For example, [[rat]]s who have the [[bubonic plague]] do not directly infect humans. Instead, [[flea]]s bite the rats and pick up the bacteria that causes plague without getting sick. Then, if the flea bites a human, they can pass the bacteria on to the human, and the human can get the plague.<ref name=plague>{{cite web |url=http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factshe