Educational Content: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment.
Definition of Zoonotic
Medically reviewed by Dr. Otari Nergadze, Neurosurgeon | Updated: January 2026
Zoonotic: Pertaining to a zoonosis: a disease that can be transmitted from animals to people or, more specifically, a disease that normally exists in animals but that can infect humans. There are multitudes of zoonotic diseases.
Some examples include:
- anthrax
- ascariasis
- brucellosis
- plague
- echinococcosis
- Lassa fever
- listeriosis
- Lyme disease
- monkeypox
- psittacosis
- rabies
- trichinosis
- toxoplasmosis
- typhus
- West Nile fever
Zoonoses may appear suddenly and be relatively virulent, as illustrated by HIV which ignited the AIDS epidemic and the coronavirus responsible for the outbreak of SARS.
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