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Animal diseases that affect humans and trade

Learn which animal diseases can be passed onto people. As well as having the potential to make you unwell, animal diseases are a concern for New Zealand’s reputation as a source of safe food products.

These animal diseases (called zoonoses) usually involve bacteria, parasites, or viruses. There are over 200 known zoonoses and most are preventable.

Transmission of zoonoses can occur if we:

• consume infected meat and foods containing infected animal products

• handle infected animals

• handle animal feed that contains infected animal products

• accidentally eat animal faeces as a result of poor hygiene practices.

Campylobacter and Salmonella are two zoonosis you may already know.

Animal diseases and our role

New Zealand food is exported to some of the world’s most demanding markets and eaten by New Zealanders too. Governments in these markets require assurance that their requirements for food products have been met. We have a responsibility to ensure all animal-related exports are free from disease. We provide these assurances for exports of:

• animal products and animal by-products

• foods containing animal products and animal by-products

• animal feed containing animal products.

Animal diseases that may affect food safety and trade

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or TSEs are a group of related brain-wasting diseases of humans and livestock. The most commonly known TSEs are bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which occurs in adult cattle; scrapie in sheep and goats, and chronic wasting disease in deer.

TSEs prevention and surveillance programme

Bird flu / avian influenza

New Zealand does not have this disease. Human cases of bird flu have been from direct contact with live infected birds, not from food.

Learn more about bird flu

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) and Crohn’s disease

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a bacterium that causes Johne’s disease in animals. There is debate over Johne’s disease being linked to Crohn's disease in humans. While MAP can be carried by food into the body (foodborne), this does not appear to be the case for Crohn's disease.

Learn more about Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) and Crohn’s disease

Taenia saginata: Beef tapeworm

This tapeworm lives in humans’ intestines, and uses cattle as the intermediate host. People are infected with the tapeworm by eating undercooked beef containing tapeworm cysts. Human infection from this tapeworm is very rare in New Zealand.

Learn more about beef tapeworm

Trichinellosis

This disease is caused by a worm parasite. It is transmitted to people who eat undercooked meat – usually farmed or wild pork. This disease is very rare in NZ.

Learn more about trichinellosis

Foot and mouth disease

This is a highly contagious animal disease affecting cattle, deer, pigs, goats and sheep. It does not infect people and has no food safety implications but it can have a significant effect on a nation’s trading status.

Learn more about foot and mouth disease

Toxoplasmosis

Most people will be exposed to Toxoplasma early in life. For adults that do suffer an infection, symptoms include swollen glands, fever, nausea or headache.

Infection during pregnancy can result in miscarriage or foetal death, or the baby may be born with brain and/or eye damage. It can also be serious for people with a weak immune system eg, the very young, frail elderly and anyone suffering a chronic illness or recovering from recent surgery.

Toxoplasma is a parasite that is able to infect warm-blooded animals and birds, but cats are the only species that shed cysts in faeces.

Foodborne infection can occur through cross-contamination after gardening (where cats may have buried their faeces) or direct contact with cats. It can also come from eating undercooked meat (especially pig meat, but also sheep, deer, goat and chicken) or drinking raw or unpasteurised milk (particularly goat milk). Ready-to-eat cured meats such as salami and ham may also be a minor source of infection.

More detailed information about Toxoplasma [PDF: 22K, 3 pages]

Related links

Learn more about the foodborne illnesses you are at risk from and how to avoid them