Zoonotic diseases

Highlights included:

• a slight increase in the number of leptospirosis and psittacosis notifications
• fewer notifications of Q fever and brucellosis in humans
• no human infections of anthrax, avian/animal influenza, Hendra virus, rabies/ABLV or tularemia were reported
• the numbers of people exposed to animals at risk of rabies and ABLV requiring assessment and prophylactic treatment continued to increase, with the 2017 figures exceeding the previous eight years. The increase was largely driven by the number of tourists exposed to potentially rabid animals overseas, especially in Southeast Asia. Although the number of wildlife workers exposed to bats in Australia also increased slightly, the majority of people with local bat exposure were members of the general public
• sporadic animal infections with anthrax, brucellosis, Hendra virus, equine chlamydiosis and ABLV were reported in NSW, requiring public health investigation of exposures and interventions to prevent human infections.

For more details, see the Zoonoses Annual Report.​​​​