Proper diagnosis is important for people and animals with active infections, but testing dead animals or patients is also important particularly if it is uncertain what the infection was. Diagnostic techniques are as varied as the zoonoses themselves, with many different methods each for bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. The best way to begin the approach toward a diagnosis of current and emerging zoonoses is using a multidisciplinary plan; essentially, a "One Health" type approach.
Various steps would include:
- Clinical Recognition. Emergency room physicians, infectious disease experts, and many others are needed to start down the right path toward diagnosis.
- Epidemiology Studies. The geographic region, age, gender, races of susceptible persons, potential vectors and animal hosts, and modes of transmission all need to be discovered and studied.
- Other Notables. It is important to note a change in the pathogen's host range, such as a switch from causing disease in pigs and dogs to causing disease in humans. New variants result from mutations in the pathogens' DNA, which usually happen in response to an immune attack by the the host. Another thing to notice is human actions on the environment such as the creation of lakes or ponds, erecting buildings, etc.
These studies are all important, but for definitive identification, we need laboratory tests.
