Zoonotic Disease Program

The mission of the Zoonotic Disease Program (ZDP) is to prevent and control diseases transmissible from animals (including mosquitoes and other vectors) to humans. ZDP staff work with our local health department partners and other agencies and organizations throughout the state to conduct surveillance of animal reservoirs and disease vectors, investigate zoonotic diseases and conditions in humans, carry out disease interventions and educational initiatives and provide consultations to animal and human health professionals.

Ohio Vectorborne Disease Surveillance Update

Update on vectorborne diseases in Ohio including current data on vector, human, and veterinary surveillance for mosquito-borne and tickborne diseases.

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Oral Rabies Vaccination Campaign

To protect Ohioans and their domestic animals from a new strain of rabies in wild raccoons, ODH and other state and local agencies partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to immunize wild raccoons for rabies using an oral rabies vaccine.

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Top Resources

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is caused by an infection with a bacterium, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick in Ohio. Lyme disease cases are increasing in Ohio as the range of blacklegged tick populations continue to expand in the state.

Mosquito-borne Diseases in Ohio

Diseases spread by mosquitoes are a concern in Ohio each year. Most are merely a nuisance and are not major vectors of diseases; however, the diseases these mosquitoes can carry are very serious ones.

Powassan Virus

Powassan virus is spread by the bite of infected ticks. Although rare, the number of people reported with Powassan virus infections has increased in the United States in recent years. Ohio reported its first case of Powassan virus disease in 2021.

Rabies and Animal Bites

Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal or, less commonly, when saliva from an infected animal gets into an open wound or onto a mucous membrane. The Zoonotic Disease Program conducts rabies prevention activities to protect Ohio residents from the spread of wildlife rabies to people, pets, and other animals.

Tickborne Diseases in Ohio

Diseases spread by ticks are an increasing concern in Ohio and are being reported to the Ohio Department of Health more frequently in the past decade, with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) being the most common. Other tickborne diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis are also on the rise.

Zoonotic diseases (also called zoonoses) are infectious diseases that can be spread from animals to humans. These diseases may or may not produce clinical illness in the animal.

Zoonotic diseases include:

Those that can be transmitted directly from animals to humans (e.g., rabies)
Diseases that can be acquired indirectly by humans through ingestion, inhalation or contact with infected animal products, soil, water or other environmental surfaces that have been contaminated with animal waste or a dead animal (e.g., anthrax, leptospirosis)
Vectorborne diseases that require a mosquito, tick or other arthropod to transmit disease from animals to humans (e.g., Rocky Mountain spotted fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus)

Animals that can carry and spread diseases to people:

Rabbits, rodents and pocket pets

Raccoons

Reptiles and amphibians

Arthropods that can carry and spread diseases to people:

Mosquitoes

Ticks

Diseases affecting animals and humans:

Anthrax

Ascariasis

Babesiosis

Baylisascaris procyonis

Blastomycosis

Botulism

Bovine spongiform encephalitis

Cutaneous larval migrans

Dengue

Dermatophytosis

Eastern equine encephalitis

Ehrlichiosis/anaplasmosis

E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing

Influenza A, novel virus

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis

Malaria

Methicillin-resistant S. aureus

St. Louis encephalitis

Salmonellosis

Sporotrichosis

Spotted fever rickettsiosis

Viral hemorrhagic fever

Visceral larval migrans

People at higher risk:

Some people are more likely to get disease from animals or develop more severe disease due to having a weaker or immature immune system. People at high risk include:

Organ transplant recipients
People being treated with drugs that compromise the immune system such as therapies for cancer or immune-mediated diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis)
People with HIV/AIDS
Elderly people
Pregnant women
Children under 5 years of age

Pregnant women should take special precautions to avoid infection with toxoplasmosis and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV).

Toxoplasmosis can be transmitted through contact with cat feces or environments that have been contaminated with cat feces (i.e., gardens).
LCMV can be carried by apparently healthy mice and hamsters, and pregnant women should avoid contact with them and their environment.

Additional information on people at higher risk for zoonotic diseases can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s website.