Zoonotic Diseases of Swine: Food-borne and Occupational Aspects of Infection

Abstract

Swine and their products have become a central part of food systems around the world. Global pork production has rapidly increased over the past 30 years, leading to the intensification of the swine industry: though there are fewer farms now, those farms that do persist raise ever-larger numbers of animals. This increases the transmission of pathogens both amongst animal herds, and between animals and their human caretakers. Furthermore, increased stress to animals and the potential for amplification of pathogens in the farming environment can lead to a higher burden of disease-causing organisms in and on meat products, which then make their way to consumers world-wide. As such, swine and their meat products have the potential to introduce new zoonotic diseases into populations via multiple routes of transmission. Here we discuss several examples of zoonotic diseases of swine origin, reviewing diseases with bacterial, viral, or parasitic causes.