journal N2 2025 

DOI: 10.52340/ekonomisti.2025.02.01

Expanded Summary

Annotation.  The paper examines the essence of zoonotic diseases, their sources and types of origin, as well as the socio-economic consequences of zoonoses, both in general and in a historical context. It is noted that any zoonoses cause certain negative economic and social consequences. The direct costs of zoonotic diseases are associated with mortality (reduction in labor force, decrease in human capital); with the loss of physical capital (loss of gross domestic product); with the reduction of funding for scientific and research work (delay in economic development); with human disease (expenditures in the healthcare sector) and animal morbidity (treatment of domestic animals, deterioration of the ecological conditions). The indirect costs of the disease are associated with disease prevention and control measures; Market impacts, such as trade, travel regulations and restrictions; reduced domestic demand for meat products; loss of export markets and falling meat prices; as well as the effects that arise due to consumer reactions and changes in consumer trust in the food chain. Special attention is paid to zoonotic pandemics both globally and in Georgia.

Keywords: zoonotic diseases, zoonosis, pandemic, pandemic shock 

Introduction

Humans have been in contact with animals since the ancient times, using them to satisfy many of their needs. However, animals can carry harmful micro organisms that can spread to humans and cause diseases. Diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases or zoonoses.

The term “zoonosis” comes from the Greek words zoion (animal) and nosis (disease), meaning a disease of an animal. However, sometimes an animal may not get sick, but a person can still get the disease from it and cause health problems.

The first scientist to introduce the term “zoonosis” into scientific circulation was Dr. Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow (German: Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow), a German pathologist.

The emergence of zoonotic diseases clearly begins with the consumption of wild animal meat, which was exacerbated by human encroachment on natural ecosystems, and then in the Neolithic era with the transition of humans from nomadic to sedentary life, which was followed by the domestication of animals and the establishment of close contact with them. This is evidenced by the parasites found in the remains of livestock of the inhabitants of the largest and best-preserved Neolithic and Eneolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in Turkey [Чем болели ,,, 2019]. In modern conditions, the main source of zoonotic diseases is unsanitary conditions at animal markets and an insufficient level of prevention.

The socio-economic consequences of zoonotic infections depend on the type of disease and the mass spread. Zoonotic epidemics and pandemics have particularly severe negative consequences 

Sources and types of zoonotic infections

There are many ways in which zoonoses can be spread, such as: insect bites; contact with an infected animal; consumption of undercooked meat, unpasteurized milk, or contaminated water; various types of pathogens can be transmitted from animals to humans: bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses. There are many zoonotic diseases. They are differentiated  according to the source of origin: cats (toxoplasmosis; Pasteurella; cholera); bats (Ebola virus; SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), rabies, Nipah virus, Hendra virus); dogs (rabies, noroviruses, Pasteurella, Salmonella, cholera, parasitic nematodes); ticks (Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan disease); mosquitoes (malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, Zika virus, chikungunya virus); birds (avian influenza (H1N1, H5N1), salmonella, ornithosis); cows (enteric cholera, cholera, salmonellosis); rodents (hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, plague Rat-bite fever, salmonellosis) [Cuthbert L. 2020]

Humans can become infected in the following ways: Foodborne: eating or drinking something contaminated, such as unpasteurized milk, undercooked meat or eggs, or raw fruits and vegetables contaminated with the feces of an infected animal; Vector-borne: an insect bite, such as a tick, mosquito, or flea; Direct contact: coming into contact with the saliva, blood, urine, mucus, feces, or other body fluids of an infected animal. This can happen when touching animals; Waterborne: drinking or coming into contact with water contaminated with the feces of an infected animal; Indirect contact: coming into contact with areas where animals live and roam, or touching objects or surfaces that are contaminated with animal germs [Zoonozuri 2012].

There are very few places on Earth where diseases are not transmitted from animals to humans. The most important of zoonotic diseases are zoonotic pandemics. There have been many zoonotic pandemics in human history [The Human... 2020]:

Influenza pandemics. Influenza pandemics are well-known and global events. The 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic was an event of incredible magnitude and destructive power. It was an H1N1 virus. Genetic analysis suggests that it must have spread to humans from birds. However, some researchers suspect that its origins should be sought in pigs and other mammals. Influenza viruses are transmitted from seabirds to other animals by the so-called "antigenic shifting". Given this, it is possible that H1N1 emerged in mammals much earlier, in 1882, and transformed into a deadly virus for humans in 1913-1915. H1N1 reminded us of itself in 2009-2010 with the "swine flu" pandemic. Compared to the Spanish flu, the latter was much less deadly. 

3 major pandemics of the "Black Death" have been recorded. The first one raged in the Mediterranean and the Middle East in 541-542. It is worth noting that the name of the causative bacterium is Yersinia. It comes from the name of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. The second pandemic of the Black Death went down in history as the "Black Death". The third pandemic began in China in the late 1800s and spread globally thanks to rats. Since then, isolated cases of the Black Death have been recorded, but it has not reached the scale of a pandemic. The bacteria that cause the Black Death are spread by fleas. The disease usually attacks rodents, but given the parasitism of fleas, it can also easily spread to humans. It is believed that a radical decline in the population of sandflies in Asia due to climate change forced fleas to attack other species, namely humans, for food. This is believed to have been the cause of the second Black Death pandemic. Many researchers believe that the classic model of the spread of the disease in Europe by fleas does not correspond to reality. Recent theoretical models consider the main culprit not rats, but humans and their poor hygiene conditions.

Ebola. One of the deadliest outbreaks of Ebola occurred in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. The countries most affected were Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread through physical contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. This means that the disease can be transmitted from one person to another sexually for up to a year after the onset of symptoms. It is believed that the Ebola virus jumped to humans from fruit bats, but researchers have not yet been able to detect it in bats. Another hypothesis is that Ebola first spread to gorillas and hedgehogs, as the latter eat fruit dropped by bats. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the virus is transmitted through contact with infected blood, organs or secretions. Ebola spreads among chimpanzees, monkeys, and porcupines, causing their deaths. The virus enters the animals' bodies, adapts, and then is transmitted to humans, after which it spreads into the human population.

The HIV and AIDS pandemic. The role of the most deadly pandemic of modern times has been played by the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by HIV infection. It is believed that both viruses that cause AIDS, HIV-1 and HIV-2, were transmitted to humans from higher primates and monkeys in the second half of the twentieth century. The disease spread, especially in the 1970s, through blood transfusions and bodily fluids (unprotected sexual contact). The first clinical case of AIDS was recorded in the United States in 1981, although retrospective studies have shown that its cases had been described for a decade earlier. The US government did not pay attention to HIV infection for a long time and it was given pandemic status quite late. HIV infection and AIDS have particularly affected marginalized groups, immigrants, drug users, and the queer community. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite ongoing research, there is no cure or vaccine for HIV. However, thanks to the tireless work of activists and scientists, awareness of prevention is high and effective therapies are available. The life expectancy of people infected with HIV is similar to that of people without the virus. With appropriate and effective therapy, the amount of the virus is reduced so much that it is no longer transmitted from person to person.

Coronavirus pandemic. It began in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which spread quite quickly throughout the world and was soon declared a pandemic. Due to the lack of an appropriate vaccine and medicine, the governments of the country were forced, on the advice of health workers, unlike previous pandemics, to introduce strict restrictions to save people's lives and health. A long-term continuation of this situation would lead to the collapse of both the national and global economies. Therefore, governments implemented anti-crisis programs and, together with epidemiologists, developed conditions for coexistence with the virus, although the world could not survive the economic crisis, which can be called a pandemic shock to the economy [Abesadze R. 2020].

The stage of combating the spread of the virus has begun.    

The most common zoonotic diseases in Georgia are: Brucellosis, which is more common among farm animals, mainly in cattle and small-horned cattle, and isolated cases are found in pigs and dogs; Anthrax. It is a particularly dangerous infection for all domestic and wild animals, as well as humans. Animals mainly get sick while grazing, as the microbe lives in the soil for many years and remains viable for about 120 years. A person can get anthrax while caring for a sick animal, as well as when slaughtering a sick animal. There have been cases when people became ill while working on the land; Rabies is one of the most widespread diseases in Georgia. The main source of this disease are stray dogs (when biting or chewing), which pose a danger to both other dogs and humans; Turkish disease is an infectious, highly contagious (very contagious), acute, rapidly spreading viral disease of domestic and wild ungulates; Tuberculosis is an infectious, in most cases chronic disease. Tuberculosis affects 55 species of domestic and wild animals, as well as 25 species of birds. Among agricultural animals, cattle are most often affected by tuberculosis. The disease can be transmitted from animals and birds to humans. Also, animals can become infected from a person with tuberculosis [Brief overview... 2018]. 

Socio-economic consequences of zoonotic diseases 

Zoonotic diseases are caused by harmful microbes, such as viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. These microbes can cause many different types of diseases in humans. These diseases range from minor short-term illnesses to life-threatening conditions. In short, the socio-economic consequences of zoonotic diseases can be summarized as follows: In general, zoonoses only lead to negative consequences: reduction of national human capital; losses in gross domestic product, which leads to a reduction in innovative projects and, therefore, an obstacle to the economic development of the country; increased costs of human treatment; restrictions and reduction of international trade in animals; reduction of travel and tourism in affected areas; deterioration of human well-being and comfort [Sara Babo ... 2014]           

The greatest economic and social losses are caused by zoonotic pandemics, but in general, they are to be expected during any kind of zoonotic diseases. The direct costs of zoonotic diseases are related to mortality (reduction in the workforce, loss of human capital); loss of physical capital (loss of gross domestic product); reduction in funding for scientific research (delayed economic development); human disease (expenditures in the health sector) and animal morbidity (treatment of domestic animals, deterioration of the ecological situation).

Indirect costs of the disease are related to disease prevention and control measures; market impacts such as trade and travel regulations and restrictions; reduced domestic demand for beef products; loss of export markets and falling meat prices; and those resulting from consumer reactions and changes in consumer confidence in the food chain.

As already noted, the greatest negative socio-economic consequences were followed by zoonotic pandemics. For example: the first recorded pandemic, the first pandemic of the “Black Death”, lasted for 60 years. In 554, 5,000, sometimes 10,000 people died from the disease every day in Constantinople. In total, 100 million people died. Byzantium lost half of its population. The economy died, trade almost ceased, craftsmen abandoned their jobs; the second pandemic of the “Black Death” raged intermittently for 5 centuries. As a result, the human toll amounted to 34 million. The third pandemic of the “Black Death” broke out in 1855 and quickly spread to all continents via merchant ships, causing great casualties and economic decline; The Spanish flu infected 500 million people between 1918 and 1920 (28% of the world's population at the time), and killed 100 million. The "Spanish flu" was so deadly that by the end of 1918, the average life expectancy in the United States had been reduced by 12 years; the "swine flu" pandemic claimed 150,000-575,000 lives; seven "cholera" pandemics with severe consequences have also been recorded in the world; the "typhoid" pandemics in 430-427, during the Peloponnesian Wars and World War II. Which resulted in a huge loss of life; 2 million people died in 1957-1958 due to the "Asian flu" epidemic. In 1968-1969, the so-called "Hong Kong flu" spread, which claimed the lives of almost 1,000,000 people. Also worth noting is the pandemic of the "immunodeficiency virus" and its final form, "AIDS" (lasting from 1981 to the present. 60 million people became ill, 25 million died); the "swine flu pandemic", which swept the entire world. 220 million people became ill, 2,000 died. In 2002-2003, an "atypical" pandemic was observed, and in 2013, a "bird flu" pandemic. During the first pandemic, 8,437 people became ill and 813 people died, and during the second pandemic, 649 and 384 people, respectively.

Of course, Georgia was not immune to viral epidemics, for example: the “Black Death” was called “Zhamianoba” in Georgia. And the streets were filled with unburied corpses. Healthy people did not dare to touch the corpses, so they left their homes and ran away. They could not even touch the water, because it was also infected; In 1892, “cholera” appeared in Georgia. This disease quickly passed in our country, because the population was vaccinated against cholera; Georgia experienced the most severe epidemics in 1919-1920, when “typhoid” spread in Tbilisi, which raged for 2 months. The typhus epidemic killed several hundred people in Georgia. In 1920, the Georgian population was again struck by “cholera”. Georgia endured a severe cholera epidemic only after sanitary measures were taken in the country. Ultimately, the epidemic was stopped thanks to the availability of vaccines developed by the military-medical Laboratory. In the past, the government also took certain measures against the epidemic, but the population mainly used self-isolation (going to villages, going to the forest, etc.). 

The first case of coronavirus in Georgia was recorded on February 26, 2020. In order to save lives and prevent the collapse of the healthcare system, Georgia has implemented the following measures: closing educational institutions and switching to remote mode; suspending creative activities in cultural institutions, canceling all planned events; banning mass and public gatherings; restricting certain economic activities; physical distancing and declaring a state of emergency throughout the country, strict quarantine and curfew; installing field tents at land border checkpoints and all three airports for medical examination of incoming passengers before transferring them to a special facility; preparing quarantine zones for screening people and early detection of the disease to accommodate people suspected of having the virus or at high risk; The creation of a headquarters for stock management and food supply, which would ensure daily monitoring of prices and supplies of primary consumption products; gradual suspension of travel to neighboring countries; tracing the primary source of infection and, accordingly, implementing the necessary preventive measures to isolate, identify and track existing and potential contacts as much as possible. Then arose the risk of uncontrolled growth of the number of infected people and the collapse of the healthcare system. Therefore, due to the need to simultaneously restrict several areas of public life, a state of emergency was declared in the country. The tightening of restrictions began (well-calculated medical and non-medical measures were implemented, which, although they resulted in an economic recession, also had one of the best epidemiological results in the world): international passenger traffic was completely stopped; Strict quarantine restrictions were imposed: first intercity, and then within the territories of self-governing cities and municipalities, passenger transportation by minibuses and buses was suspended; Covid clinics were established and the creation of "fever clinics" began: a curfew was imposed and movement on foot or by vehicle was prohibited from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.; the permissible number of individuals allowed to gather in public spaces was reduced from 10 to 3 people; age restrictions on movement were imposed, in particular, persons aged 70 and over were prohibited from leaving their place of residence (with exceptions); passenger transportation within the administrative borders of the municipality by M3 category vehicles and public transport, including the metro, was suspended; the movement of more than 3 people (including the driver) in light vehicles was prohibited; various types of economic activities were gradually suspended; The level of people's well-being and comfort is deteriorating. At the same time, it is noteworthy that even within the framework of the state of emergency, vital economic activities for the country were maintained. More than 63 thousand economic entities worked without interruption. Agricultural work was carried out, including in municipalities under strict quarantine; export of agricultural products for sale; freight transportation (including transit); production and sale of food products, medicines, electricity, natural gas, water, communications, fuel and other essential goods and services; operation of critical infrastructure and system enterprises. The state, within its capabilities, also implemented measures to mitigate the aforementioned negative processes, even under the conditions of restrictions. It should be said that with phased restrictions, Georgia avoided the rapid and mass introduction and spread of coronavirus infection in the country [Abesadze R2. 2020].

After the restrictions were lifted, anti-crisis measures were implemented in the country to alleviate socio-economic problems, and the economy in Georgia began to recover and grow rapidly. Already in 2021, the economic growth rate amounted to 10%. During all major zoonotic pandemics, both the number of human victims and economic losses were colossal, which, apparently, was caused by the reduction of labor resources, due to which a large amount of physical capital was destroyed or remained unused (due to the abandonment of jobs), and because of this, new investments were no longer made. In addition to the economy, they also took a huge toll on the human psyche, culture, and even the genetic makeup of the population. In the past, the government also took certain measures against the epidemic, but the population mainly used self-isolation (going to villages, going to the forest, etc.). 

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