Figure 1.

Although major hotspots of mammal hosts occur in the New and Old World tropics (South America and Eastern Africa, particularly) more zoonoses are concentrated in northern latitudes, Eastern Africa, and Southeast Asia (13). According to these findings, it is very important to emphasize that zoonoses are not “exotic diseases” for North American and European citizens (16). In fact, zoonotic agents such as Toxocara spp., Chlamydia psittaci, Salmonella spp., Giardia spp., and other viral and bacterial zoonotic diseases are routinely diagnosed among pets from illegal animal trade (16) sold to unwitting parents of children and adolescents (Images credits Paolo Zucca).